Something About You
by Lilya
Summary: A RenjiTatsuki story told in snapshots. They were always fighting – against each other and against the Hollows. Time goes by much too quickly to change something – or does it?
1. I: Lightning Storm

Title: Something about you

Author: Lilya

Genre: Romance/Humor

Summary: A Renji/Tatsuki story told in snap-shots. They were always fighting – against each other and against the Hollows. Time goes by much too quickly to change something – or does it?

Main Characters: Arisawa Tatsuki, Abarai Renji + the others.

Rating: G

Pairings: Renji/Tatsuki, Ichigo/Rukia, Ishida/Orihime

Disclaimer: nor Bleach nor its characters belong to me.

Author's notes:

1) English is not my native tongue – please forgive my mistakes. If some sentences don't make sense, please tell me and I'll try to fix them.

2) For those who follow my other story "Sins of the fathers": I haven't completely abandoned it, but, unfortunately, I'm having a few troubles with the fourth chapter. I'm still trying to work on it, though. Sooner or later – hopefully sooner – I'll update.

**SOMETHING ABOUT YOU**

I: LIGHTNING STORM

_Five months ago_

It was all because of Asano-san.

Or maybe it was Asano-san's fault – it depends which way you look at it.

Anyway, everybody agrees that it was Asano-san's nth try to catch vice-Captain Matsumoto's attention that tricked Abarai Renji's reaction.

Truth to be told, Renji was merely looking for an excuse to pick a fight with somebody because he was bored out of his mind. All they ever did was sitting through class – why bother taking notes when they would leave as soon as the whole mess was cleared? – and looking around for troubles that never came.

The only bright point of his whole day was his daily training session, when he could finally let out all his pent-up energy.

But that was becoming boring as well.

Renji tapped his pencil on the desk. He needed to find a distraction or he'd go crazy.

He couldn't make fun of Ichigo because they were on a mission together – that, and the fact that Rukia wasn't too keen on sharing her position as main-torn-in-Ichigo's-side. And he couldn't even make fun of her because she'd beat him to a pulp.

Renji sighed, leaning back on his chair. 'Life is so unfair!' he thought. 'I'm so desperate I'll end up missing my fights with Captain Byakuya – although I always got my ass kicked!'

A honeyed, shrill voice broke his trail of thoughts. Asano had started fawning over Matsumoto again – although he had finally learned to do so from a distance.

It had only taken a broken nose, after all…

Renji grinned. 'Looks like this day won't be totally wasted, after all…"

"Why won't you go out with me, Matsumoto-chan?" Asano was whining.

"She's blonde, not blind." Renji called out, smirking.

Asano looked outraged. "How-How dare you, you punk!"

The other Shinigamis stiffened. Baaad move.

Renji arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, Matsumoto-san is a high-class girl!" Asano spat back. "She wouldn't even **_glance_** at trash like you!"

The Shinigamis exchanged worried looks. The kid was just digging his own grave – and Ichigo and Rukia where out to take down a Hollow!

Renji kept on smirking and slowly got to his feet. "But she'd rather look at men than at sissies like you."

"What! I'll show you!" Asano cried, ready to charge blindly at his opponent.

Renji barely raised his guard. 'It's too easy…'

Then, something unthinkable happened. A figure swiftly moved between the two, side-kicking Asano and punching Renji on his jaw.

"Enough!" a voice unmistakably feminine said in a ice cold tone. "Both of you! Do you want to get detention?" The petite brunette turned to Asano. "You! If you want to attack somebody, at least do it decently!" she turned and glared at Renji. "And you, if you want to mess around, then at least don't do it when a teacher is about to come in, you idiot!" she glared at them. "No fights in this class, is that clear?"

"Yeah, you're the only one who's allowed to, aren't you, Sergeant?" Asano muttered, but not softly enough.

Arisawa Tatsuki turned and glared daggers as him. "Did you say something, Asano-kun?" she asked sweetly.

The boy just yelped and scrambled away.

Tatsuki just shook her head. "What's this, a kindergarten?"

Abarai Renji didn't notice any of this. His brain was too busy replaying the previous scene on his mind.

Stop.

Rewind.

That girl had hit him.

That skinny, weak human girl had hit **_him_**!

She had hit Abarai Renji, Vice Captain of the Sixth Division and Shinigami extraordinaire!

That was beyond outrageous!

"Renji? You okay?" the bald-headed Shinigami, Ikkaku, asked, waving a hand in front of him.

"She didn't possibly hit **_that_** hard…" Captain Hitsugaya remarked.

Renji pushed Ikkaku's hand away. "I'm fine, shut up." he growled, turning to glare at Tatsuki's retreating figure.

War had been officially declared at 11.02 of a Tuesday morning.

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	2. II: Tidal Wave

Thanks to everybody who reviewed! I love you all!

Following new policy, I can't answer you here…. Damn.

However – I can still say that this story will be pretty long, let's say from 22 to 24 chapters.

I have everything planned and only 5 chapters to write down. Recently – when I had almost finished – a couple of ideas popped in my mind, but I haven't decided if I'll add them or not. Anyway, since it's so long, I hope you won't get too bored.

I'll try to update once a week – it seems only fair.

Now, enough with my rambling and on with the story…

_Special thanks to Cynlee – who was the first reviewer and inspired the final sentence of this chapter._

II: TIDAL WAVE

Author's note: Japanese people usually address each other by their surname – unless they are really close. They also create pet forms out of surnames by cutting off the last syllable and putting "-rin" or "-pin" in its place.

I first found this out by reading "His and Her circumstances" and later a manga-addicted friend of mine – who's also studying Japanese at our local university – confirmed and explained this to me.

_Four months and three weeks ago…_

Hitsugaya Toushiro eyed the vice-Captain critically. "What are you doing, Abarai?" he finally snorted. "You've been pressing your head against that window since we arrived! Are you planning to leave the mark of your face there?"

Renji grunted a reply – which meant he hadn't heard a thing.

Then, suddenly, his face lit up. "Ah-ah! Here we are!"

"What?" Matsumoto asked, lowering Cosmo's latest issue. "Who's coming?"

Renji laughed evilly. "My number one rival!"

A few seconds later, the door opened and Arisawa Tatsuki stepped in.

"Good morning, everyone!" she cried cheerfully – then her smile withered into a scowl. She passed between Ikkaku and Chizuru and stopped right in front of Renji – who was currently leaning back on a chair with his legs stretched on the desk.

Correction: he was sitting in _**her**_ chair, with _**his**_ legs on _**her**_ desk.

Tatsuki crossed her arms on her chest and stared icily at him.

The other students hurried away from them, leaving them alone.

Tatsuki's scowl deepened and her glare became even frostier.

Finally, Renji turned his eyes on her. Their gaze locked. Then, instead of turning into ashes, Renji smirked.

"Good morning, honey."

The other students – Shinigami included – dived for cover behind their desks.

"What are you doing here?" the girl asked, her voice low and dangerous.

Renji raised a tattooed eyebrow, his smirk still firmly in place. "Why, I'm hurt! Don't you remember that we're in the same class…" his smirk widened. "…honey?"

No explosion – yet. The braver students dared to raise their head a little to peek on the scene… and promptly ducked back behind their shelters when Tatsuki smiled.

That psychotic, shark-like smile was the last thing many of Orihime's former tormentors remembered before waking up in the nurse's office.

After that, they usually went to count their limbs.

"Why, Abapin, don't you remember that this is **_my_** desk?" Tatsuki's voice suggested that he was going to be physically hurt if he didn't get his ass off of her chair in 0.03 seconds from now.

Renji lazily glanced at the desk, then he turned his gaze back on the irate brunette. "I can't see your name on it…"

"I can see your blood on it if you don't move away this instant…"

Renji glanced again. "You should have your sight checked, honey…"

"Abapin?"

"Yes?"

"Get-Lost."

Renji leaned back on his-her chair again. "I don't take orders from pipsqueaks like you."

When asked, many students would have sworn that they had heard a loud snapping sound as Tatsuki's last ounce of self control vanished.

Meanwhile, Rukia and Ichigo had finally arrived at school.

"See? I told you we'd be here on time!" Rukia huffed. "There was no need to run like that!"

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders. "Stop complaining, movement's good for your health."

The black-haired Shinigami eyed him distrustfully. "Since when you've become a fitness-fan, Ichigo?"

"Since I have to return a book to the school library."

Rukia's eyes widened. "And you made me get up earlier only to ret… " a pencil case landed in front of her, apparently falling out of nowhere.

Ichigo and Rukia looked down at the pencil case, exchanged a puzzled glance and looked back at it.

"It looks like Kunieda's…" Ichigo said, frowning, as he picked it up.

He and Rukia simultaneously raised their heads toward their classroom's window: the glass was broken and, although they were down in the courtyard, they were pretty sure they could hear distant shouts coming from it.

The two Shinigamis sprinted toward the school building.

"You know what?" Ichigo said as he raced up the stairs with Rukia.

"You're going to drop by the library at lunch?" she replied, side-stepping a first-year. "Sorry!"

The orange-haired boy nodded. "Exactly."

When they finally reached the classroom, Tatsuki and Renji had just ran out of projectiles and were about to throw themselves at each other's throat.

"Looks like we arrived at the very last second again." Ichigo remarked.

"Time to cut in," replied Rukia.

Another day had just started for them – and the war goes on.

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	3. III: Daily Routine

Merry Christmas everybody! And Happy Channukah as well!

My deepest thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed! You're really too good to me!

It looks like Renji/Tatsuki is gaining a bit of popularity, which is definitely a good thing. I started a C2 community about them – it's called "Moonbeams of Fire." Until now, there's only two stories – well, three, but since one is mine it doesn't count – but I do hope that both the community and the fandom (especially the former, though) might grow!

I'm not really sure about this chapter – it's nothing special, but I do promise that things will improve from the next one. No more pointless fighting! But still fighting, because making them stop is impossible.

Special thanks to Ice Illuser, whose review made me laugh a lot – don't ask why, though – and to MommyRogers because when I read hers I was torn between apologizing or thanking her. Consider this a bit of both!

Special thanks also to those unfortunate souls who encouraged me to write the two additional chapters and still don't know what they're putting themselves into.

III: DAILY ROUTINE

_Five months and one week ago _

**First Period: Science**

In the lab, Renji took advantage of a moment of distraction to steal one of the of items needed for their experiment – a small weight, easily hidden in a pocket.

He smirked as he watched her crawl on the floor looking for it, muttering curse after curse. At the same time, he pretended not to notice the exasperated glances Yumichika and Hitsugaya-taichou were throwing at his back.

Renji's smirk promptly faded, however, when Tatsuki finally got fed up with searching fruitlessly. She stood up, dusted her uniform and walked to the table he and Ikkaku were sharing. Then, she grabbed one of **_their _**weights and walked back to her table.

**Second Period: History**

Renji had learned the fine art of sleeping with his eyes open at the Shinigami Academy, sitting through History Lessons.

About fifty years later, he discovered that certain skills never really fade – and he was immensely glad for it.

At least, until a folded piece of paper bounced on his bandana and landed on desk.

Curiously, he unfolded it – and frowned at the outrageous message, which was "Wake Up Abapin."

Only one person had the nerve to call him so – and there she was, face half-turned in his direction and smirk firmly in place.

Renji grabbed a pen and started lowering it toward the paper, but stopped halfway. An evil grin curved his lips.

The red-head scribbled something, then threw it back to the sender.

His grin widened as she read his message and blushed with anger: "Too busy dreaming about you, honey." The last word had been circled for good measure.

Tatsuki turned toward him and made a face. Renji answered in the same way.

Hitsugaya kicked his chair and he turned around just in time to see him roll his eyes.

Renji shrugged and went back to sleep.

**Third and Fourth Period: Japanese**

Tatsuki huffed as she pushed a small paperball off of her book. A few seconds later, another one landed on the page.

She turned and glared at the red-headed boy sitting a few feet away from her – and much too close for her comfort. Nothing less than halfway round the world would be enough for her comfort.

Renji smirked, even if he could feel Hitsugaya's eyes burning twin holes on his back.

It wasn't all his fault, really.

It was just that he got this voice in his head that said "pick on Tatsuki, pick on Tatsuki" – and who was he to refuse?

Another paperball hit the bull's eye – formally known as Tatsuki's book.

**Lunch Break**

A simple door could change everything – provided that it was, of course, the door that led to the empty classroom where the Shinigamis camped for lunch. It was almost scary to see Renji turn all business as soon as he crossed that threshold.

Unfortunately, the same transformation always failed to take place in the other members of their group.

So, as Matsumoto teased a fuming Ikkaku, Yumichika huffed loudly and checked his hair in the windowpane and Rukia and Ichigo bickered again, Renji found himself staring down in the schoolyard, where a short, black-haired girl chatted and joked with her friends – occasionally punching a certain member of the group.

Of course, he was only plotting new ways to annoy her.

**Fifth and Sixth Period: Physical Education**

"It's not fair!" Yumichika sighed, clearly annoyed as he glanced at the girls playing volleyball.

"What?" Renji asked over his shoulder.

"The girls' uniforms are more beautiful than our own! Ours are so – beyond words!" he huffed. "Not even someone as beautiful as me can improve it."

"It's different for girls, I guess…" Renji raised his voice a little. "And nothing can be worse than Arisawa in shorts."

Much to his dismay, however, Tatsuki still managed to pass the ball to one of her teammate, before turning to him and shouting. "Nothing except your hairy legs, Abapin."

A couple of girls giggled from the sideline.

Renji was about to say something very rude, but Yumichika stopped him. "Make yourself useful and take these." he said giving him a couple of basketballs. "I'm not carrying them all the way to the other gym on my own."

As the other Shinigami-temporally-turned-student took the other basketballs and almost dragged his red-haired colleague toward the door, Tatsuki moved to serve.

Renji smirked and turned back. Miss it, honey! he cried right before she served.

As he had foreseen, the ball landed outside the court. What he hadn't foreseen was that it would hit him right on his stomach. It couldn't have been more accurate, even if it had been specifically aimed there in first place.

Plus, the blow made him drop the basketballs – which happily bounced away. He had to get them back on his own, since Yumichika was too busy laughing his head off.

"That's not funny!" he growled at his still giggling friend.

"Yes, it is! Also because you deserved that." Yumichika ignored the red-head's glare. "You did. You can't deny that." he glanced at him sideways. "Why do you do that, anyway?"

Renji shrugged. "Because."

Silence.

"That's not an answer. Neither a reason."

"It's none of your business."

Renji knew that, between the lines, Yumichika was really asking: why don't you let her be and stop this feud once and for all?

True, Renji could have done that.

But he wouldn't.

That would be too easy – and, after all, he hadn't been placed in the 11th Division for nothing.

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	4. IV: Wonders

Before starting with this week's update, I'd like to thank all my reviewers and also my best friend Uchiha Yumi – she wrote me a couple of Renji/Tatsuki stories for Christmas! Isn't she kind?

Now why don't you have a look at her stories? They're short but really nice. You can easily find them through our Renji/Tatsuki C2 community – Moonbeams of Fire.

Now, enough rambling. Just one more thing…

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

IV: WONDERS

_Four months and two days ago_

"So, this is what they call a festival?" Yumichika said, looking around excitedly. "I like it! Why don't we get something like this back home?"

"Be quiet!" Hitsugaya muttered, rolling his eyes. "We're already attracting too much attention as we are."

"It's not my fault if I'm beautiful!" whined Yumichika, who was also known as The Man of The Weird Eyebrows, who was also know as the Vainest Shinigami Ever.

"It won't be easy," Matsumoto sighed as she shrugged her shoulders. "You know, with the sunlight reflecting on his head…"

"Hey!" Ikkaku shouted, glaring at her.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes again – although it was bound to happen when his vice-captain was around, he seemed to be doing it much more often since he came to Earth. Why me… he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Do you think we could join a club?" Matsumoto chirped, ignoring her bald-headed colleague as she waved at Orihime over the crowd that surrounded the Handcraft Club stall.

A smirk bloomed on her lips as she noticed Ishida glaring daggers – or should we say arrows? – at the boys that were there only to ogle at Orihime. 'Ah! The wonders of love!'

Hitsugaya shook his head. "Of course we can't. What's the point anyway?" he rolled his eyes again. "We're not here on vacation, have you forgotten?"

"Aww, come on, boss! View this as an opportunity!" she caught Renji's gaze and winked at him conspiratorially. "We should make the most of it!"

Renji raised an eyebrow at her, but she had shifter her attention back to the festival.

Renji sighed. Sure, it was pretty entertaining – more than regular lessons anyway – but he couldn't quite concentrate. Hell, there were more important things he had to think about: he was Shinigami on a mission, he had a busy life, for crying out loud! Going to school, finding out how many Vastrodes Aizen could throw at them, then getting more infos on those Vaizards, then again reporting back to the higher-ups, answering Byakuya's daily letters, assuring Byakuya that **_yes_**, Rukia was doing perfectly fine and training when he wasn't busy doing any of the above-listened activities didn't leave time for anything else.

"Look! That's Arisawa-san demonstrating for her Karate club!"

Correction.

Maybe there **_was_** room for something else.

After all, what sort of life it could be without a hobby?

Renji did have one.

It was called "Annoy-the-Hell-out-of-Arisawa-Tatsuki"

The red-haired Shinigami inconspicuously veered to the left, observing the whole scene. The members of the club would show the basic stances and punches to the other students who looked interested. On the back, Tatsuki was demonstrating an actual black-belt level fight with another girl.

Smirking, Renji pushed his way to the front, then took a deep breath and hollered, "Nice ballet, honey! You should try out for the cheerleaders' club."

Tatsuki didn't even glance at him, although she was the tiniest bit slower on parrying her opponent's punch.

"But then you'd look like a boy in disguise…"

Luckily, Tatsuki's control was perfect, or her next punch would have broken Kasumi-chan's ribs.

"Haven't you accepted yet the fact of being a girl? G-I-R-L… You know, someone pretty and polite." Kasumi-chan barely stopped a vicious kick. "Not that you fit the description in any way, but…"

"Sorry, Kasumi," Tatsuki muttered before grabbing her by the arm and sending her sprawling on the mat. As she helped her friend, she motioned for two boys to come near. "Could you fill in for a second, please?"

"Of course, Tatsuki-sempai!" the youngest nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll be back in a minute."

Tatsuki exchanged a few words with Kasumi, then went to take care of the disturbance.

'She looks like a cat…' Renji thought as she slowly walked up to him, but promptly drove that consideration away when she stopped about a feet away from him. 'If she got any closer, she'd have to raise her head to look at me…'

"Is that all you can do?"

Tatsuki's voice startled him out of his contemplations. "What?"

"Standing around, yelling and basically doing nothing. Is that all you can do?" she repeated, glancing at him and raising an eyebrow.

He scowled – something that happened quite often in her presence. "What are you implying, **_honey_**?"

Tatsuki smirked. "You figure it out, _**Abapin**_. You know, you shouldn't talk about things you don't understand…"

The red-head opened his mouth to reply, but she turned her back on him and glanced at the two fighting boys. Renji was positively fuming.

"Don't make me laugh." he shot back. "Compared to me, you're nothing."

Tatsuki turned back to him. "Really? Want to prove it?"

"A fight? With you?" he looked at her up and down. "That wouldn't be any fun, honey."

"For me or for you?" she shot back with a grin.

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied.

"I don't think so." her eyes sparkled. "Of course, if you are afraid…"

Was that bloodlust?

Renji didn't stop long enough to ask himself that question. "You should be the one who's afraid…" he growled as he started untying his shoes.

"We'll see…" she said as she walked to the centre of the mat and shifted into a fighting stance.

Renji kicked off his left shoe and moved to stand right in front of her.

A small crowd had gathered around the Karate Club Demonstration Area – everybody had gotten used to their fights, but this was the first time they actually came to blows.

'I wonder if she did this only to draw more attention to her stupid club…' Renji thought bitterly, then turned his gaze on his opponent. Tatsuki, however, hadn't spared a glance at their audience. Her eyes and her attention were solely focused on him. That knowledge sent a lazy shiver down his spine, but he didn't have time to ponder on that.

The fight had started.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Yumichika said, worriedly.

"And miss all the fun?" Ikkaku said. "No way!"

Tatsuki parried a punch, feinted to the right and punched back on the left – the blow was parried nonetheless. She would never admit it, but Abarai-san was a better fighter she had anticipated.

What she didn't know was that the Shinigami was thinking the very same thing about her.

He closed the distance between them, leaving only room enough to throw punches – having found himself at the receiving end of her monstrous kicks one time too many had forced him to turn to close-quartered combat. _**Really**_ close-quartered.

As much as Tatsuki tried, she couldn't loose him. ?He seems to be reading my mind…' she thought as another attempt was promptly vanquished. '…almost.' She corrected as she finally landed a punch on his upper torso.

They kept on spinning and dancing around each other, blocking and throwing punches, attacking and retreating.

And, as they fought, Renji started noticing things he had never seen before.

'Does she always look like this when she fights?'

He had never noticed how determined she looked. He had never noticed the rapt expression on Tatsuki's face. He had never noticed that blazing fire burning in her eyes.

As he moved out of harm's way and placed a punch on her side, Renji though he could practically sense her excitement, her joy.

For she felt she only belonged somewhere when she was fighting against a worthy opponent. With all her strength. With all her might. With all her soul, until her fire burned away her darkest fear. The fear of being helpless.

The red-headed Shinigami saw her burning spirit – and something, somewhere deep inside of him, answered.

'She's just like me…'

He had planned to use part of his true strength to defeat her, but now all those treacherous thoughts flew from his mind, melting like snow to the fire of her.

It wouldn't be fair. It would be cheating.

His pride argued that she need a lesson.

'She's only I girl. I don't need to.'

He could defeat her – but he wouldn't crush her. Not anymore.

What if her fire had died?

As he was still arguing with himself, Tatsuki's knee connected rather painfully with his stomach, sending him sprawling on the mat.

Tatsuki had won.

However, this victory tasted a bit bitterly to her. She smiled at her mates' praises, but she couldn't help but sneaking glances at Renji.

By the other side of the mat, Hitsugaya was scolding the red-headed Shinigami – but Renji didn't hear a single word the Captain said.

He kept on glancing toward the short-haired, fire-spirited karateka.

'Of course.' He thought as he watched her out of the corner of her eye. 'I should have known that there was no need to go easy on her.'

Because even if he had defeated her, Tatsuki wouldn't be crushed.

She would have risen again and kept on fighting.

"Are you even listening to me, Abarai!" Hitsugaya screeched.

Matsumoto laughed softly. 'Ah! The wonders of love indeed!'

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But please, don't review only to point out that they're OOC and that Tatsuki couldn't have beat him in a fight.

I know that, in a real fight, she wouldn't stand a chance, but Renji a) was holding back. A lot. B) underestimated her c) got distracted by focusing on his own thoughts.

I tried to explain this between the lines of that passage, but in case I didn't succeed…


	5. V: Karate Club

CONTEST

The Renji/Tatsuki C2 community "Moonbeams of fire" is holding a challenge-contest !

To those who want to join, here's what we require:

- theme "We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" (Oscar Wilde)

The sentence does not have to appear in the story – however, the story must have a connection to the sentence's meaning.

- The fiction must be between 500 and 2000 words.

- All entries must be e-mailed to the C2 community moderator ( Lilya) or a member of the staff (Uchiha Yumi) – our e-mail addresses are shown in our profiles. This doesn't stop you from publish them, but stories on published and not e-mailed won't be considered.

I know this sounds harsh, but, although Bleach is still a pretty small fandom, we don't want to risk missing anything.

- All entries will be read by the C2 community staff and moderator, who will judge them according to the following criteria:

sticking to the theme

style

pairing development

originality

Each of the above point will be individually graded from 1 to 10 by the three of us – the story that gets the highest score wins

- what do you win?

Basically, we will write a story of your choice.

How very original, isn't it? Oh, well….

I think the Author note is actually longer than the chapter – well I hope you'll like nonetheless… and that you'll join the contest.

Feel free to e-mail us for any doubt/question/etc.

V: KARATE CLUB

_Four months ago_

Tatsuki walked down the hall quickly, grumbling to herself.

"Where is that loud-mouthed idiot?" she huffed, looking around. "I don't want to spend my whole lunch break looking for him, damn it!"

She opened the door and glanced inside a classroom: nothing.

Slamming it shut, she moved to the next. Only a couple making out.

Tatsuki slammed the door even more forcefully, making them jump out of their skin.

She heard voices coming from the opposite classroom and went to check on it. When she opened the door, the voices stopped abruptly and six pair of eyes turned toward her.

"Hi, Ichigo. Hi, Rukia. Hello everybody." she said as she looked around.

'This is the group he usually hangs around with, but…'

"Where's Mr. Tattoo?"

"Gone to the toilet." Ichigo replied.

"Thanks." the door slammed shut and Tatsuki's swift footsteps echoed in the corridor.

"Uff, I was about to ask her to wait for him with us!" Ikkaku complained. "She's cool."

"Then it's better this way." Matsumoto said as she unwrapped her sandwich. "Renji would have used you for target practice if you had."

"Why should he?" the bald-headed Shinigami replied, frowning.

Matsumoto laughed softly – somewhat evilly – and took a bite of her sandwich.

In the hall, Tatsuki sneezed. 'Somebody's talking about me…' she knitted her brow. 'Was it my imagination or Matsumoto-san was looking at me funnily?' she shook her head: the Boys Bathroom was in sight. 'Oh, well, on with the problem at hand…'

The door was slightly open and she saw that nobody was in.

'He must be in a stall.' Tatsuki thought as she walked in and leaned against a wall. 'Here we are…' Her scowl deepened.

Somebody flushed the toilet, then the door of the second stall from the door opened and a black-haired fourth-year student walked out.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he spied her and blushed several shades of red. Then he opened his mouth to say something, but Tatsuki's glare made him reconsider his idea and run out of the bathroom as fast as he could.

Tatsuki lowered her head and waited.

After a few seconds, another toiled was flushed and Renji stepped out of a stall. He looked at her and blinked. Then blinked again.

His lips curled into a smirk. "They kicked you out of the Girl Bathroom, honey?"

Tatsuki glared at him. "Ever considered becoming a clown, Abapin?"

"Professionally? Never."

"Thank God." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If it was for me, we wouldn't be having this conversation…"

He opened the tap and washed his hands. "Then I'm glad it isn't so…"

Tatsuki snorted, annoyed. "Remember our fight during the festival, two days ago?"

He mechanically placed a hand on his stomach. "Of course I do. What about it?"

Tatsuki looked at a spot on the wall about two inches away from Renji's head. "It looks like you managed to… impress my club mates."

"So?" he said as he shrugged his shoulders and tried to meet her eyes.

She kept her gaze on the wall. "I don't know how to say this…"

"Try with words, honey."

Tatsuki glared at him and Renji's breath was caught in his throat. The flame was still there in her eyes, still hot and bright as he remembered.

"They want you on the club."

Renji blinked. "What?"

Tatsuki gritted her teeth – 'I'm sure he's doing it on purpose.' – then took a deep breath. "They want you to join our karate club." she raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to spell it out? Or draw a picture?"

Renji frowned. "Why?"

Tatsuki looked stunned. "Why? You have to ask why?" she glared at him. "That's because you're freaking good! Happy now?"

He shrugged. "I'm not good."

"You are not good? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!" she shouted. The flame had become a roaring fire. "You had me in a tight corner – and almost no one in the club can do that. Not for such a long time." she added.

Renji smirked. "What? Are you feeling challenged?"

"None of your business!"

"Maybe you're just jealous, honey…" he said.

Tatsuki would have liked to punch him, but forced herself to keep her self control. "We aren't talking about me." she huffed. "Will you join the club?"

"No."

The black-haired girl's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

Renji shrugged. "I'm not interested."

"You can't refuse. You're damn good, you can't waste your skills like that!"

He laughed humorlessly. "Believe me, honey, I'm not wasting anything."

Something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone before he could understand what it was. "Bullshit. I told you, you're good! Why won't you join?"

"I told you I'm not interested."

Tatsuki bowed her head, hiding her face. "Is it because of me?" she asked softly.

Renji was stunned. He couldn't say a word.

Finally, as that silence started becoming uncomfortable, he reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's not because of you that I'm refusing." he shrugged. "I've got better things to do."

"Better than karate? I don't think so." she quipped back, looking straight at him. "You like fighting. Just like me. It was written all over your face."

He sighed. "You're stubborn…"

"Otherwise I wouldn't be a good fighter." she shot back.

"Listen, I can't join. I just can't."

"But why?" she insisted. "Is it because of your grades? You can ask your friends for help!"

"I don't care about grades."

"Then why?" she crossed her arms on her chest "Give me a good reason to give up on you and I will."

"Why do you care so much? It's not like you actually want me there."

"It's not about me, it's about the club! she said. "Will you join or not?"

He sighed, then looked around, checking that nobody was listening. "Don't tell anybody I said this, but…" he took a deep breath. "My stay here is only temporary."

Tatsuki frowned for a second, then her face became expressionless. "I see." she murmured. "Well, it's settled, then. I won't be bothering you anymore."

She turned to walk away , but he called her back. "Hold on a second, Arisawa."

Tatsuki turned back, surprised by the use of her last name. He caught up with her in a couple of strides, then looked at her straight in the eyes. His lips slowly curled into a smile. "This doesn't mean that I won't be looking forward to our next match."

Then, he brushed past her and walked away.

Tatsuki blinked, then shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the Boys Bathroom.

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	6. VI: Just Great

Author's notes:

This week you get an early update because I'm replacing my computer during the weekend and I don't know if I'll have it running on Sunday. I didn't want to miss an update, so here you are….

Be warned for extreme Out Of Character-ness (especially on Renji's part.) Normally he wouldn't be this dense, I know – but I wanted to add another touch of silliness. That, and I liked the idea of the characters chasing each other. Hope you'll like it nonetheless.

VI: JUST GREAT

_Three months, two weeks and four days ago_

It wasn't supposed to happen.

That was all Renji could say.

It had started out like any other day – which meant with a loud fight with Arisawa Tatsuki.

Unfortunately, this time things had become rather – physical.

Later, Renji admitted – but only to himself – that maybe calling her "wicked witch from Hell" hadn't been such a smart idea.

Tatsuki hadn't liked it. Not one bit.

So, since he had been smart enough to shout his insult from a distance, with a lot of desks between them and with him standing very close to the door, she had done the only logical thing – if you can call it logical.

She had grabbed on the first thing she had found and had thrown it at him. Forcefully.

Later, the projectile turned out to be Orihime's Japanese dictionary.

It didn't even graze Renji – in fact, the Shinigami dodged it easily.

If he had known what would happen next, he would have gladly stopped the heavy dictionary with his face.

For right then and there, the door had slid open and the History teacher had come in – only to receive the dictionary in his stomach.

Consequentially, Tatsuki had been given a detention.

So, what was Renji doing there?

He had been given a detention as well for fighting.

Not only that, but he had to serve it with **_Tatsuki_**.

'Damn! I hated history when I was at the Shinigami Academy!' he though as he threw some books on the table. 'Now I remember why…'

"Stop slamming things, you moron." Tatsuki hissed. "If you ruin them, we'll get another detention."

"Shut up! It was your fault to begin with!"

"My fault? Who was the one who started?"

"Who was the one who overreacted? Ouch!" She had just elbowed him – hard – between two ribs.

"Hey! You wanna pick a fight with me, pipsqueak?" he shouted, getting into a fighting stance.

Tatsuki didn't even glance at him. "Shut up and work, otherwise we'll never finish this."

"Ha! You're afraid, aren't you?"

"Right. I'm so scared I'm about to faint!" she replied mockingly in a high-pitched voice.

"Whatever!" he snorted. "You're just…"

"Just what?" she whipped around to face him, her eyes burning.

"Just a girl." Renji finished lamely. 'I almost said human….I must watch my tongue or she'll get suspicious.'

Tatsuki threw him a glance that said "I-know-you-were-going-to-say-something-else-but-I'll-just-pretend-I don't-or-I'd-be-forced-to-kick-your-ass-**_again_**" and turned back to work.

Renji grumbled and started working again.

They had been doing so for about five minutes when suddenly his phone beeped: he had just received a message.

His shoulders tensed. 'Oh, please, tell me it's not what I think it is…' No such luck. 'Great! A Hollow-warning while I'm stuck with this…this human! Why the Hell are they sending this to me! It's not my area!' he checked on the message again. 'Oh, damn…'

The Hollow was heading toward a school.

**_Their_** school.

He jumped from his seat and almost knocked down the chair.

Tatsuki looked at him funnily. "What's gotten into you? Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"To take a piss. I'll be back in a minute. You stay here, ok?" He rushed down the corridor.

Tatsuki sighed and started re-arranging her pile books. Then, suddenly, her shoulders stiffened.

"Damn it! Where the Hell is he!" Renji grumbled as he checked the school building. He didn't bother lowering his voice since he was in his Shinigami form and no one could see him. "Damn! I'd better finish this quickly, before the Evil Midget goes looking for me and finds my gigai in that stall." he checked another classroom.

'He's around here – I'm sure. But he must be pretty good at disguising himself since I can't sense him…' he rounded another corner. 'If I only I hadn't been forced to waste so much time going to the bathroom… He has surely sensed me by now!'

The Shinigami stopped dead in his tracks, then turned around: he could feel an alien energy coming from around the gym.

"Nice try, but not good enough." he smirked as he raced toward his target. "I've found you…"

The gym had been originally located in a smaller, separated building: however, when a new wing of the main edifice had been built, the two constructions had been connected.

It wasn't that late, but, being in wintertime, darkness had already filled the sky. The cold wind pulled stray dark clouds in its race, sometimes pushing them over the full moon.

Renji dropped down in the yard: the spiritual pressure wasn't high, but it was clear. He unsheathed his Soul Cutter and walked through the wall.

Right in that moment, a cloud covered the moon.

The gym was darker than he had anticipated, but he was able to pinpoint the Hollow's position nonetheless.

'Weird, it seems – smaller…' he thought as he started charging at it. 'Watch out, it might be a trap…'

Renji had almost reached its target: he drew back his sword, preparing to swing it down with full force, when the "hollow" turned around.

And he found himself staring into Tatsuki's black eyes.

Renji almost tripped. 'What? What is she doing here?'

The girl jumped back, as if to avoid his blow, an arm raised to protect her face. "Hey! What the Hell are you doing?"

Renji stood there staring at her, flabbergasted. 'She…She can see me? No way! It must be a trick!' His eyes widened. 'Wait a moment! There are two different spirits! One is clearly a Hollow but it's…in the main building! What's going on?'

"Abarai! Answer me, damn it!"

The Shinigami blinked twice. "You can see me?"

"Of course I can." she replied, then studied his outfit. "You're a Shinigami, aren't you?"

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he could will his voice box to work. "How is it possible? You…" then it dawned on him. "Kurosaki. I bet he's involved, isn't he? Just like it happened with Inoue and Sado."

"I think so as well." she shrugged. "What's going on?"

Right in that moment, Renji realized something. "Hey! I told you to stay in the classroom! Why are you here!"

Tatsuki willed herself to ignore the first part of his sentence. "I felt something weird and I came down to check if everything was okay."

Renji completely lost it. "YOU CAME DOWN HERE ALONE! ARE YOU STUPID!" he yelled at the top his lugs. "THERE'S A HOLLOW HERE! H-O-L-L-O-W! DO YOU WANT TO BE EATEN!"

"Don't shout at me, I'm not deaf you moron!" Tatsuki scowled, crossing her arms. "What's a Hollow? One those things that attacked Orihime and me last year?"

"Wait, wait…You don't know anything?"

"Not exactly. I overheard some things and figured out others, but…" she shook her shoulders. "Nobody really explained anything to me."

Renji was about to bash his own head against the wall. 'Great! Just great…'

"Well, this is no time for explanation. There's a Hollow here, so go away and let me deal with it." he lifted his sword, ready to leave. "I suggest you to run all the way back home."

"Why should I?" Tatsuki replied. "I'm going to fight it with you."

The Shinigami dropped Zabimaru – which fell on his right foot.

After he finished jumping around on his left foot and cursing, Renji turned to glare at her. "Stop saying nonsense. You can't fight it!"

"I did it once, I can do that again." she answered back calmly as she walked toward the door.

Renji moved to stand right in front of her. "You don't have any power! You aren't trained! You don't know what you're going to face!"

Tatsuki clenched her fists. "I can fight. And you said it would be foolish to face one alone."

"Only for a weak human like you." As soon as those words left his mouth, Renji realized it had been the wrong move. 'Good job, Renji! Now she's even more determined to fight!'

"We'll see." she hissed coldly. "Now let's go."

"You aren't going anywhere! You won't fight, period!"

Tatsuki moved to reach the door, but Renji grabbed her by the arm and crushed her against his chest.

"Abarai! What…" she struggled, trying to push him away, but before she could truly put up a fight, he had hit the back of her head and she had collapsed in his arms.

'Arisawa's head it tougher then marble – ow! I think I actually hurt my hand…' he thought as he looked around frantically. 'Where do I put her, where?' Then he spied the door of a locker room. 'Found it!' he shifted his grip on her and rushed in the other room.

'She's so…light,' he thought as he laid her down on a bench, staring at her face.

Then, he shook himself. "On with the hunt!"

He ran back out, pulling the door closed behind him. He lost a few seconds by locking it shut. 'One can never be too sure with her…' he raced back in the main building. 'Now, where did that bastard go!'

He couldn't feel him anywhere. "Did he sense me and left?" he wondered as he checked another room. At the edge of his consciousness, he felt Tatsuki's aura raise again.

When he turned in the next corridor, he found the Hollow's trail. "Good, it's fresh. Now I'll know where it did go…" he followed it up through the wall, into the classroom of the upper floor – and found himself in a wrecked room.

Desks had been thrown against the wall, chairs smashed, books strewn everywhere. A schoolbag peeked from beneath the teacher's desk, while another had almost been torn to pieces.

Renji's eyes widened. 'This is the room where we were working! Why did it came here…' An ice-cold chill ran down his spine. 'Unless….unless he was targeting…'

An explosion of power coming from the gym cut off his thoughts.

"TATSUKI!"

Renji turned and ran, ran back as fast as he could. With horror, he remembered that Tatsuki couldn't even run, since he had locked her in.

'Oh, God, no!' he thought as he ran faster.

There was no time to go back down the normal way – so, when the outer wall came in sight, Renji kept on running. The Shinigami passed right through it, then fell down, right into the gym.

The landing wasn't fatal – as it would have been for a human – but it was still painful. Renji, however, didn't even wait for his dizziness to die down – for, as he reached the ground, he had heard an agonizing scream that certainly didn't belong to the Hollow.

'No, no, no, NO!'

His vision was still slightly blurry, but he charged into the locker room nonetheless.

The Hollow wasn't very big – probably one the reasons why it preferred to sneak around and attack from behind one's back. It closely resembled a octopus – but Renji only noticed that it was using two of his tentacles to pin Tatsuki against the wall.

The red-haired Shinigami let out an inhuman howl and charged straight at him. The Hollow barely had time to turn his masked head that it was chopped off. As the blow fell, Renji dimly noted that the Hollow's mask was cracked and the soul-eating monster was missing an eye.

"Tatsuki's handwork, I'm sure…"

The tentacles holding the girl up disappeared with their owner and she slid down on the cold floor, shivering and panting.

Renji was by her side in a second. "Tatsuki! Are you wounded? Did it do something to you?" he gently cupped her face and forced her to look at him. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, but he could feel that her soul hadn't been touched. "Tatsuki?"

The black-haired girl frowned a little, as if she was trying to recall his face.

Then, she punched him in the stomach.

The Shinigami wasn't expecting this reaction, so the blow hit him at full force, knocking the air out his lungs. "Hey! Is that your way to be thankful?"

"Thankful!" Tatsuki shouted, grabbing him by the collar of his kimono and dragging him to his feet with her.

Next thing he knew, she had slammed him against the wall and wrapped her hand around his throat. She wasn't choking him yet, but the firmness of her grip suggested that it might soon become an option. "If you do it again, I'll kill you. Is that clear?"

"Cry…stal…"

She let go of him, straightened her skirt and pointed to the door, tapping her foot. "Well?"

Renji sighed, stepped through the wall and unlocked the door.

And now, not only he'd be forced to explain everything to her, but they also had to start their chore all over again.

'Great. Just great.'

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	7. VII: Distraction

Author's note: this week, we have an introspective chapter from Renji's POV…I hope you'll like it

VII: DISTRACTION

_Three months, two weeks and one day ago_

Sighing, I rest my chin on my hand as the teacher keeps on blabbering over some stupid poetry.

Who cares about this!

I mean, I can't even remember the goddamn difference between a metaphor and simile – let alone **_why_** should I know it.

Damn.

This is so boring… I don't need to know all this human stuff.

Hitsugaya calls it "one of the many troubles of being undercover."

In fact, here he his, tacking notes as if life depended on it.

As if this poem by I-don't-remember-his-stupid-name could ever help us against Vastrodes.

Maybe we could try to read it to them – at least they'd fall asleep and we could kill them. Or at least it would give them a headache.

Uff… this stuff is so boring.

What can I do, what can I do…

Ok, Renji. Stop looking at her.

Right now it's not the best thing to do – even if you **_did_** choose this seat because it allowed you to watch her undetected.

Column on her right, one row behind.

Simply perfect.

Right now…

Damn it! I was looking at her again!

She's not even doing anything worth noticing!

She's only taking notes like the rest of the class – even if I must admit she looks much more interested than the others.

I wonder if she likes this subject… She looks so absorbed…

Damn it! Who cares about the way she looks!

Stop staring at her, Renji.

I should at least try to listen to the teacher…

"This image relates to the simile we analyzed at the verse 130, where the hints to the platonic doctrine concerning metempsychosis and…"

What?

Damn.

I'm not in the mood for literature right now…

I'm not in the mood for anything since I met Hitsugaya on my way to school this morning.

Back home they call me dense – behind my back, of course… if they did it in my face, that would be the last word they say **_ever_** – what was I saying?

Oh, right. I immediately understood that it was no chance meeting, even if he wished for it to appear so.

Considering that he lives on the other side of the town, I don't know how he hoped to pull it off.

And he's supposed to be a genius…

I can't believe what that- that **_flea_** had the nerve to tell me!

"You are losing your focus on our mission."

As if that could ever happen!

Who does he think I am?

No, more importantly, who does he think he is, ordering me around like that!

He wasn't even chosen for the mission to begin with!

Unfortunately, the brat is a damn Captain – so that makes him the higher-ranking official among us. And unofficially our leader, although he wasn't fucking chosen.

Why did he have to come too?

Why do I have to put up with him?

Why? Why?

…

Why am I staring at Tatsuki again?

Ack! Luckily he can't see me from his seat or I'd be getting another earful at lunch!

Which would be extremely annoying, since he's just… just… hallucinating!

Yeah, right.

Either that or he's just making things up to bug me!

I mean, I haven't developed any fascination toward the human world!

And certainly I'm not attracted to Ta- the Evil Midget!

A distraction, he called her!

Tsk! As if I could be distracted from the likes of her!

I peek at her as she listens to the lesson, eyes glued to the blackboard.

When we fight, she focus on me like that….

Bah! Probably her only positive trait – good attention span, I mean.

A distraction… I really can't see how could I be distracted by her!

She's nothing special, just another face in a class full of meaningless humans.

There's nothing that makes her stand out – apart from her fighting skills and her bossy manners.

She's not beautiful either.

A sneak another glance. No, definitely not beautiful.

Not to mention she has the worst temper ever!

She doesn't even try to look at least more feminine!

Let's not forget the most important thing: she's a human.

Only a weak, useless, clumsy, stupid human teenage girl with serious attitude problems.

How could he even **_think _**that?

I know we fight all the time, but it's not a distraction! It's merely a-a…well, a pastime. Really. Nothing more and nothing less.

Why did he come to talk to me?

The problem simply doesn't exist!

Instead of bothering me he should have a talk with Ichigo and Rukia.

They're just like us, aren't they?

Always fighting and bickering – well, they're also obviously in love, which we aren't.

Oh, the Hell with that!

I slightly turn my head to the side and watch her.

Watch her as she frowns and underlines a few sentences on the book. Watch her as she copies down the words on the blackboard, then starts toying with her pen. Watch her as she checks on her watch, then draws a random sketch on the corner of the page.

I sigh.

Hitsugaya is plainly crazy.

Tatsuki's only a weak human….

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her smile to a secret thought in which surely I have no part.

…but she does make such a powerful distraction.

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	8. VIII: One to One

Author's note: this chapter is absolutely lame. I'm really sorry, especially for those people who wished for more action, but… that' really the best I could do.

VIII: ONE TO ONE_Three months, one week and three days ago_

Renji knew it would happen sooner or later.

He cringed inwardly.

'Still, that doesn't mean that I have to **_like_** this…'

The truth was that he was awfully unprepared. The red-haired shinigami had never been one for planning anyway, but this time he hadn't done it because he kept on hanging on the feeble hope that maybe – just maybe – if he didn't think about it, then it would never happen.

Needless to say, it hadn't worked.

And now there he was, standing in the middle of the empty and dusky gym and facing a grimly determined Arisawa Tatsuki. Who had just made the most outrageous proposition.

"What?" he said, just to make sure he had heard correctly.

The short-haired girl crossed her arms on her chest. "I said I want to fight you."

'Great! Now, how can I back out of this gracefully?'

He shrugged. "And kick my ass again? No thanks, I do treasure the few shreds of pride I've left."

"I want to fight you for real."

He felt cold sweat running down his brows – even if gigais didn't sweat! Or maybe Urahara's did? – "If you weren't fighting me for real last time, then I…"

"Don't play dumb with me." she hissed. "You were the one who wasn't fighting for real."

Renji sighed. 'No use in playing games.'

"Listen, Arisawa, you'll just get hurt."

Tatsuki shook her shoulder. "As if I had never fought before!"

"Arisawa…"

He never finished, for he had to jump back to dodge a kick. Then a couple of punches and another kick.

"Stop it."

"No."

He avoided another blow – only barely – and threw her a pointed glance. "Remember you asked for it, honey."

She didn't lower her guard. "Come on, Abapin. I'm waiting."

Renji shrugged off his gigai as if it had been an old coat – and so the true fight began.

This time, there was no acid banter, no trading of cutting remarks, no spiteful words. Just silence – so unlike them, so unlike their previous fights at all.

It almost looked unreal – but it wasn't.

It was damn serious.

His spiritual pressure startled her and weighed down on her like a heavy fog. His speed was astonishing – her eyes almost couldn't follow. He was skilled – even if she wasn't familiar with that particular fighting style, she could tell he was great.

He was strong – stronger than she had anticipated. But that didn't stop her from fighting back with all her might.

Tatsuki knew she couldn't win, but she couldn't give up. That just wasn't her style.

Silently, almost unwillingly, Renji developed a new kind of respect for her – and also a sort of understanding.

'We are more similar than I thought…'

The dangerous dance continued, but not for long. Tatsuki held her ground pretty well, but even her karate training wasn't enough in the end.

He didn't want to hurt her, so he changed slightly the last movement: instead of beheading her – which was the main purpose of that technique and the whole basis of Hollow hunting – with perfect control Renji simply placed his sword on her neck.

"This is the end." he whispered.

The black-haired girl couldn't nod, so she was forced to answer directly. "Yes, it is."

He stepped back and sheathed his sword. As he did so, Tatsuki turned around to face him and bowed without taking her eyes off of him – the kind of bows they used in martial arts.

Renji was suddenly glad that he hadn't gone back to his gigai yet – his blush would have been clearly visible.

No words were exchanged as she walked to the Girls Locker Room, nor as they tidied up the gym.

They had just walked out of the school gates when she surprised him again.

Tatsuki stopped and smiled. "Thank you."

Then she walked away without waiting for a reply – maybe because she was expecting none.

The stunned Shinigami just stared at her, gaping – and standing in front of the school gate like an idiot.

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	9. IX: All Together

Thank you to Blood Heron for betaing this chapter! I really hope you'll like it…

IX: ALL TOGETHER

_  
Three months, one week and two days ago_

At 6.59 AM, all was quiet in the Kurosaki household.

At 7.00, an alarm clock rang.

At 7.01, multiple screams shook the tiny house. Halfway through, those who hadn't been woken by the alarm clock were startled out of sleep and joined the scream.

At 7.04, every scream died down.

Then the stampede started.

At 7.35 Ikkaku, Ichigo and Renji dragged Yumichika away from the bathroom mirror and Rukia, Hitsugaya and Tatsuki finally managed to wake Matsumoto up **_again._** The group assembled in the front yard, joining Yuzu and Karin.

Renji rubbed his forehead, trying to tune out Yumichika's whining. 'Why does it have to happen to us! I mean, it wasn't so difficult…We only had to meet at Ichigo's to discuss Tatsuki's newfound powers, who could train her and how and whether she would fight by our side – I'm not happy with the decision, I know I voted for "one more fighter is always handy", but still… Anyway, we certainly weren't supposed to fall asleep!' he sighed. 'Great. Now we'll also be late for school.'

"What time is it?" Ichigo wheezed, still panting for the race.

"7.37." Karin announced. "We'll never make it…"

"DON'T WORRY, BLOOD OF MY BLOOD! DADDY WILL FIX IT! Daddy always fixes everything!"

Ichigo slapped a hand over his forehead, while Yumichika wrinkled his nose. "Excuse me, who did you just called bloody?"

"Do not worry! I have the perfect solution!" he walked to a mysterious think covered with a big, white cloth and unveiled it with a flourish. "Ta-dah!"

The Shinigamis stared. Then blinked. Then stared some more.

A lime-green Toyota Yaris stood, gleaming in the morning sunshine and utterly sparkling with car wax.

"With my trusted vehicle, I shall bring you all to school safely and on time!"

Nine pair of eyes turned to Ichigo, half-imploringly and half-menacingly.

The boy cleared his throat. "Dad, I don't think that…"

"NONESENSE! Come on, get in! We'll be there in no time at all!"

Rukia sighed. "Well – It's not like we have a choice. Besides, we can't afford being late."

At 7.40 AM, a lime-green Toyota Yaris shot out the Kurosaki's driveway and swiftly turned right, covered about 10 meters on two wheels, then plopped down with thud – and several shouts, too.

"DAD! Slow down!" Karin shouted, cursing the fact that, even if she was sitting in the front seat, she couldn't reach him – and whack him.

"DON'T WORRY, MY LOVELY DAUGHTER! DADDY HAS EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL!" Isshin replied as he passed with a red traffic light.

Yuzu closed her eyes and prayed. 'Please, don't let the policemen see us….Please, don't let the policemen see us…'

Renji groaned as Ikkaku's elbow hit his side with a sniper's accuracy. Another turn – with two wheels ending up on the sidewalk, this time – and a series of thuds came from the hood.

Yumichika turned a bit, "Ca…Er, Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, are you all right?"

Ikkaku snorted, "Of course they are! They're probably better then us – after all, they do have two large airbags. OW!"

"Serves you right!" Matsumoto replied, then giggled. "It's fun, you know! We should do it more often!"

"You're simply out of you mind, Matsumoto." Hitsugaya grunted.

"That's only because you can't stand upright, taichou."

"MATSUMO-WAAAAH!"

Renji growled a couple of curses under his breath.

Being sandwiched between Arisawa and Ikkaku and shaken like milk-to-be-turned-into-butter with little-to-no probability to arrive at school on time – let alone in one piece – wasn't exactly his favorite way to start a day

'I still can't believe we fit all in this sardine can…'

The car swayed again and he caught a glimpse of Rukia sitting on Ichigo's lap – 'To save room, my ass!' – and stealing a kiss from him while everybody else was too busy staring at the lorry that had just passed a bit too close to their tiny car.

'Oh, please! It's not even 8.00 AM! My stomach just can't take it!'

Instinctively, he turned the other way – and his gaze fell on Tatsuki's small frame, crushed against the car door.

Right as he watched her, Kurosaki senior changed direction rather abruptly – eliciting another scream from Karin and causing the back-seat passengers to slide and fall all over each other.

So it happened that Ikkaku crashed against his back and pushed him forward – and somehow, when his senses found their focus again, Renji realized that the hand he had put forward to avoid a rather painful meeting with the car window, indeed had not been pressed against the door.

Unless doors were soft and warm.

The red-headed Shinigami swallowed hard. He was all but trapping Tatsuki against the car door and his left hand was currently trapped between their bodies and pressing lightly against her chest.

Renji reckoned that the next time he would have let his head smack against the window… That was, if he lived long enough to get a "next time."

Luckily for him, Tatsuki's arms where trapped – one against the cold metal of the door, the other between her body and his own.

However, her scorching glare left no doubt on his fate as soon as they would get out.

He tried to move back, but Ikkaku's not-exactly-feather-like weight was still firmly placed against his own back.

Renji growled. "Make a bit of room, will ya!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're all packed!" the bald Shinigami grunted in reply.

"My uniform is all wrinkled! How can I go to school looking like this? My clothes won't match my appearance!"

"Don't worry, Yumi, I'm sure you'll manage."

"Well, beauty goes hand in hand with elegance and tidiness, you know! But I suppose that my good looks will make up for that…."

Ikkaku rolled her eyes. "That's not exactly what I meant, but…"

Renji gritted his teeth, still struggling to detangle himself from that compromising – and positively fatal – position.

Matsumoto laughed. "Relax, Abarai. We're almost at school."

'Oh, please tell me she didn't notice…' He thought as his complexion turned a nice shade of red to match his hair.

With a frightening screech, the car halted in front of the school – and almost tipped over, as Karin pointed out.

"Here we are!" Kurosaki Isshin announced cheerfully.

Kurosaki Karin muttered words that a girl – especially one so young – shouldn't have known.

From the sidewalk, Orihime smiled and waved, while by her side Ishida impassively observed the whole scene, his Cool Uncaring Quincy Act ® unfaltering.

Then, the car door opened and Tatsuki fell out – with Renji on top of her.

Orihime froze mid-wave, her hand still stuck in the air. Ishida's eyes widened considerably, while his Cool Uncaring Quincy Act cracked and fell to the ground.

Tatsuki blushed – but that didn't lessen the effect of her glare. Quite the contrary.

One single look could have had iron melting and marble statues covering in fear.

Renji didn't wait for her eyes to burn a hole in the middle of his forehead – or for her knee to came in contact rather forcefully with his…lower region. He did the only thing he could: he shot to his feet and ran for his life. Quite literally.

Never mind he had defeated her only the previous day – there are certain things not even the infamous Zaraki Kenpachi would dare to face.

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	10. X: Black Hands

Damn won't let me break into paraghrapsh as I need to...Hope it will show. If it doesn't, I'm really sorry...

X: BLACK HANDS

Author's note: (for those who have trouble remembering Bleach's names – like me… please tell me I'm not the only idiot…) Ajucas – second kind of Menos.

_Three months ago_

The entire world was immersed in pain.

The simple act of breathing sent thousands of needles piercing her whole body as frustration and anger wrecked her soul.

Little by little, she felt herself being pulled toward the calming embrace of darkness.

But she could still hear the sounds of the ongoing fight.

She gritted her teeth, willing the warm darkness away and forcing herself to concentrate on the cold, damp ground she was lying on.

The battle still continued just over the edge of her consciousness. Therefore, she had to cross that border.

No one would ever say that Arisawa Tatsuki had run away from a battle.

'Even if that's exactly what that big buffoon would tell me to do!'

The thoughts of him - 'that arrogant, stupid, obnoxious, insufferable…' and so on – was the last spur she needed to come back from that shady land.

The sounds were now clearer and louder – unfortunately, her wounds were more painful as well.

Tatsuki cracked her eyes open: Renji was still fighting that cursed Menos-thing.

Wait.

Let's rephrase it: Renji was defending himself from that cursed Menos-thing.

She had been told quite clearly that she stood no chance against them – those beings would have given a Captain a hard time.

But Tatsuki couldn't just run away and leave someone behind.

She took a deep breath and started pushing herself up, ignoring her muscles' vibrant protests.

---------------------------------------------------

Keep your eyes on your opponent.

That was the first lesson in swordsmanship – and one that was never to be forgotten.

If you actually did, it would be your last mistake.

Renji hadn't forgotten it.

The red-haired Shinigami kept his eyes firmly focused on the Ajucas in front of him.

But he didn't need to look away. He could distinctively feel her presence, like a prickle on the back of his neck.

He couldn't give up. Not only his own, her life was at stake as well.

He couldn't fail her.

'If only I could hold him off long enough…' Renji thought as he barely avoided the Menos' blow.

But, before reinforcements could come, Zabimaru was suddenly hurled out of his grasp and sent flying toward the other end of the school yard.

He cursed inwardly as the Ajucas smirked and let out a sound that could have been a twisted laugh.

The Shinigami didn't avert his gaze from his opponent. Instead, Renji clenched his fits and, after drinking in the tingling sensation he still felt, charged at his enemy.

--------------------------------------------------------

Several feet away, Tatsuki watched, stunned

No one in their right mind would attack a Menos without a weapon. But Abarai Renji had just done that.

The short-haired girl's mind was racing, trying to find a way out of their current predicament.

She couldn't charge at the Ajucas like a certain red-haired idiot had – she needed to find a plan, possibly one that would work.

Her eyes hardened.

'The tables can still be turned at our vantage…'

----------------------------------------------------

Renji knew it was useless. He knew he was going to die.

But he also knew that if he went down, she'd be the next.

'Just a few minutes more…' he thought as he kept on fighting desperately, hoping that it would be enough for her.

But he couldn't hope to keep the Ajucas off for long.

His back slammed against the wall and a strong hand gripped his throat. With a cruel grin, the Menos raised his sword and slowly but deeply cut his chest, drawing blood.

The red-head's eyes widened: his death wouldn't be quick, nor painless.

Oddly enough, the only thing he could think was, 'Great. Just great.'

But, as he lifted his sword to cut him again, the Ajucas yelped and dropped him while the blade of a Soul Cutter protruded from his chest.

The Menos turned around and swept the human girl away, sending her crashing a few feet away. He frowned, then took a step toward her.

It was the last thing he did, for Zabimaru was wrenched – quite roughly, too – away from his chest.

Tatsuki raised her head in time to see Renji's smug grin.

"Don't worry, honey…" Zabimaru's blade sang through the air. "… I'm taking over from here."

The Ajucas started crumpling, but disappeared before it could touch the ground, efficiently beheaded.

Tatsuki smiled inwardly, but on the outside she rolled her eyes. "That was about time!"

Renji gingerly helped her up, then, leaning on each other, the two reached the stairs and sat down on a step.

"How did you do it?"

Tatsuki tilted her head. "What?"

"How could you use Zabimaru? A Soul Cutter can be wielded only by its owner."

The girl shook her shoulders. "No idea."

Renji knitted his brows and studied her for a few seconds. Then, he spoke again. "Show me your hands."

By the stiffening of her shoulders, he realized he had caught her.

Unwillingly, she showed him her left hand. It was perfect, only a bit calloused.

"Now the other one…" his gaze left no room for arguments.

Tatsuki's right hand was another matter entirely: the palm was blackened and bloodied, her flesh looked as if it had been burned.

Renji hissed out a breath – it must hurt like hell.

He gently took her hand between his own larger ones. "How were you going to explain this to your parents?"

The girl shrugged. "I would have come up with something."

"If you say so… Do you think that the Kurosaki Clinic will be still open?"

"What!" Tatsuki cried out. "I don't need a doctor! I'll bandage it as soon as I get home and no one will notice." She tried to pull her hand away, but Renji would have none of it.

"Annoying human!" he muttered. "I guess I'll have to fix it myself, then…"

He took a deep breath and started concentrating his spiritual powers into his hands.

"Wha…"

"Shut up. Don't distract me." he replied without opening his eyes.

Demon Arts weren't exactly his strong point – back at the Academy, he had been his teacher's desperation. But this time, he was going to do it right.

He knew he was.

He felt the energy flowing to the small hand he held.

When the spell was over – and when he found the courage to open his eyes – there wasn't even a scratch left on her skin.

He allowed her to pull her hand back, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

"How do you feel? Can you move your fingers?" he said without looking at her.

She flexed them experimentally. "It's okay. It prickles a little, but it's already going away."

"Good." he nodded curtly. "If your hand hurts or feels numb, go and ask Rukia to have a look at it. She's very good at Demon Arts." He added, confessing between the lines that Rukia was better than him.

Tatsuki looked at her hand. "It won't be necessary."

Renji stole a glance at her, surprised by the firmness and the trust in her voice.

But her next words would surprise him even more.

"Thank you."

Renji was seriously temped to check her temperature.

"No."

Tatsuki turned to look at him quizzically.

"Thanks to **_you_**."

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	11. XI: Down the Road

This chapter's horribly short and pretty useless too – I hope you won't be too disappointed. I just liked the scene and wanted to write it..

XI: DOWN THE ROAD

_Two months, three weeks and five days ago_

Cold wind blowing through town, howling in the streets. The sky, only a black mass, like ink spilled on a sheet of paper.

A Shinigami stood outside a small building, watching and waiting patiently.

But he wasn't there because of an Hollow.

'Although sometimes an Hollow would be preferable….' He thought as his eyes followed a small figure.

He could see her perfectly as she moved around the gym one last time, closing the windows and checking that nothing had been left astray.

Then, the short, black-haired girl walked into a locker room to change out of her white karate-gi.

Sighing, he gave up his position and moved to sit down on the gym steps.

A few minutes later, the lights went out. A door was opened, then closed and locked.

Tatsuki climbed down the short stairs, then, when she reached the bottom, she turned around and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

The Shinigami-in-disguise got to his feet and walked down the last steps, stopping by her side.

Sighing, the girl turned and headed toward the school gate. The red-head followed.

They walked together across the yard, then through the gate and down the street.

The light of the street lamps cast weird reflections on their faces.

Tatsuki sneaked a glance at the boy walking by her side.

It had been going on for several days – Renji would wait for her after she finished her training with the Karate Club and then walk her all the way home.

At first, they had argued every step of the way, but now they had settled for a companionable silence.

But one evening, as they waited for the bus, Tatsuki cleared her throat and spoke up.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

Renji raised an eyebrow, wrinkling his tattooed forehead. She had said it almost casually, yet he had detected something else in her voice. An undertone of embarrassment, maybe? Or was she simply annoyed?

Her black eyes were staring at him – their expression unreadable.

The Shinigami shrugged. "I know, honey" he replied, relaxed but somewhat bored. "But I want to."

Tatsuki turned her head toward the end of the road, trying to see if the bus was coming. A small smile played on her lips.

Renji felt like kissing her, but he didn't move.

A few seconds later, he was saved from his own secret embarrassment as the bus came to a halt in front of them.

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	12. XII: Sweet Home Chicago

Hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I hope you will like this week's update as well.

XII: SWEET HOME CHICAGO

_Two months, two weeks and six days ago_

Abarai Renji had been quite happy when his turn to go back and report to the other captains had come around.

True, the reporting part wasn't exactly a piece of cake, but he'd do practically anything to skip those useless lessons and have one peaceful day without fighting with the Evil Midget From Hell.

That didn't prevent him from thinking about her – although he didn't even realize it. Mostly because his thoughts ran along the line of 'It's 11.30 – Tatsuki's sitting through her Geography class – which she **_loathes_** – while I'm here at home.' Insert smirk and little evil chuckle. 'Isn't life great?'

After he reported to the captains, answered all the questions and signed several papers, Renji found himself with a lot of spare time and no way to occupy it – which led to the decision to drop by his Division Headquarter.

"Missing paperwork already, Renji?" Captain Kuchiki said when his currently-on-a-mission Vice-captain walked – unannounced, of course – through the door of his office.

"Naaa, I'm only here to see how the Division is coping without me." he replied cheekily, slouching in a chair. "And to make sure that Mizoguchi doesn't steal my Chair, of course."

"Right now, he's too busy doing your paperwork." replied the black-haired man. "How is the team doing?"

Renji shrugged. "Fine, as you heard during the report. Earth is not so bad – except for one thing…" he added, frowning as he went to retrieve his cup.

Kuchiki Byakuya raised an eyebrow infinitesimally as he closed a scroll and selected another from his own pile of paperwork. "Care to elaborate?"

Renji shrugged as he poured himself some tea from the Captain's kettle. "It's nothing important, but…"

The next twenty minutes found Renji complaining loudly about the humans he had to work with. An attentive listener, however, would have discovered that most of the time had been occupied by remonstrations on a certain short-tempered, antagonistic, stubborn, loud, annoying and overall insufferable black-haired witch.

"…that midget is absolutely impossible!" Renji concluded, rolling his eyes dramatically. Then, he reached out and poured himself his fifth cup of tea.

Kuchiki Byakuya waited until he had drunk halfway through it before voicing his comment.

"So, when are you going to ask her out?"

Renji choked on his tea and started coughing, desperately trying not to strangle himself with the hot beverage. Or spit it out and shower his Captain in the process – which would lead to his own death anyway, but much more slowly and painfully.

"Next time you try to kill me," he finally wheezed. "Please, feel free to use your Ban Kai, Kuchiki-taichou." he put his cup down. "Well, I must be going anyway. See ya, Taichou."

"Good afternoon, Renji"

As the door slammed shut, Kuchiki Byakuya heard his Vice-Captain mutter to himself, "Ask Tatsuki out – never in my life! She'd punch me anyway…"

Kuchiki Byakuya smirked to himself as he signed yet another report. "Looks like Renji found his match…"

He picked another scroll, but didn't open it yet. Even considering Renji's tendency to exaggeration, the girl must have been quite a fiery type.

A shudder ran down the nobleman's spine – he had just imagined how their children could turn out…

'Fortunately, such a thing will never happen.' He thought as he picked his brush and went back to work.

Looking back many years later, Kuchiki Byakuya would reckon that his family was not gifted with the ability to predict the future. Not at all.

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	13. XIII: Howling Hound Dog

Sorry, people – it's introspection (ok, more like angsting) again. I hope you will like it nonetheless - also because I needed it as "introduction" for the next chapter.

XIII: HOWLING HOUND DOG

_Renji POV_

_Two months, two week and four days ago_

I'm screwed.

Completely screwed.

I might as well run myself through with Zabimaru – it would probably be less painful.

This is **_not_** happening!

It's impossible, it's wrong, it's foolish, it's…it's…

It's unchangeable.

What am I going to do, now?

True, I won't have Hitsugaya breathing down on my neck anymore – but…

Curse Aizen, his stupid minions and of course, my bad luck!

I mean, if there had to be a Shinigami seriously wounded and forced to stay behind as the others – save one Kuchiki Rukia – went back home happily, it just had to be me, right?

Great. Just great.

Now I'm stuck here – with her.

The Evil Midget, the pipsqueak from Hell, the miniature Sergeant, the…the…

The girl I can't get out of my head.

Damn it.

How did this happen?

How could she get under my skin in such a short amount of time?

I mean, she's only a human.

Humans are weak, foolish, annoying…

But Tatsuki isn't weak – definitely not.

Foolish – well, Tatsuki **_is_** clever, but sometimes…sometimes she acts so recklessly!

I'm really glad Hitsugaya is not here – he'd say something along the lines of "the pot calling the kettle black" or "you're just afraid she'll steal your position as Irresponsible-in-Chief."

Annoying – that she is.

However… I like to have her around.

I never thought that a human – and a girl too – would ever stand up to me.

But Tatsuki's not afraid to speak her mind or talk back.

I have grown quite fond of our verbal sparring – whatever their results might be.

I guess it was the fire of her that captivated me. I have yet to find a spirit that matches.

Rukia has that fire, but it's – colder. More controlled.

When Tatsuki and I fight and yell at each other, there's no control at all. We forget everything around us – our friends, classmates, even teachers.

And the fire blazes in her eyes.

Recently, fighting with her has become – awkward. Unwanted thoughts started creeping in my mind at the most inappropriate times.

Could that fire grow any hotter?

Could I make her scream in a whole different way?

Will we ever be able to talk to each other without yelling our head off?

Wishful thinking… I can't get close to her.

I'm a Shinigami. Tatsuki's human.

These things just don't go together. It would never work.

I know, I know… there's Ichigo and Rukia. They are trying – pushing their luck.

I wish I was like them, sometimes. I wish I could find the guts to walk out there and try.

But… it's different. I am different.

An illicit affair between a Shinigami and a human – it has never happened before, at least as far as I know. So technically it isn't a crime.

Still – it would never work.

I must not think of ways to make it work.

Tatsuki deserves better than me. I could never give her what she needs.

Tatsuki is alive, I am dead – I have been dead for a long, long time.

These things just don't go together.

I stare at the ceiling of the small room in the back of his shop Urahara kindly lent me – trying not to picture her face in my mind.

It's just a crush. If I ignore it, if I keep our relationship the way it has always been , it will go away.

It has worked before. I hope it will work again.

Tatsuki is alive, I am dead.

These things don't go together – so it's useless to dream about it.

In the end, I'll never change.

I am still the same howling dog, striving for what he can't have.

I'm just a puppy barking at a dragon, foolishly trying to attract its attention even though it will never spare him a single glance.

Forget about her, Renji. She's out of your reach.

-------------------------------------------

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

We all thought that Tatsuki's name had something to do with the moon, didn't we?

-sigh- We messed it up. A bit.

According to a website reachable from the Bleach page at it means "honorable dragon" – or something like that, with tatsu dragon and ki honor.

Either way, I had to fix one of the final sentences at the very last moment. It originally read "This time I reached for the moon" – which is usually connected to Kuchiki-taichou, so maybe it wasn't so bad.

Well, enough babbling and until the next Sunday!

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	14. XIV: The Long Distance

I'm sorry to say that next Sunday there won't the usual update since I'll be leaving for Greece on a 5-days school trip.

The good news is that at least this chapter is longer…

XIV: THE LONG DISTANCE

Author's note: as probably most readers know, there's a strong rivalry between karate fighters and judo fighters.

_Two months, two weeks and three days ago_

He should have known that something was amiss when Tatsuki arrived at school half an hour late. Then, after stuttering an apology, she had literally collapsed into her seat. For the rest of the lesson, she hadn't moved, simply staring straight ahead without seeing anything.

Renji should have kept quiet – but he didn't.

They argued every single day – why should it be any different?

His musings from the previous night had left him a bit insecure – he desperately needed to prove that nothing had changed from the very beginning. That it was just another day.

So he walked up to her – and lost a good occasion to keep his mouth shut.

She looked at him with empty eyes – as if he was a ghost, as if she had trouble seeing him.

Something snapped inside of him. Anger rose suddenly, like a tide, fogging his senses. He started taunting her, pricking her with words as sharp as needles.

Then, suddenly, she sprang up and slapped him and ran out of the classroom.

Renji blinked and stared after her, a sense of dread creeping over his soul.

Somebody tapped him on the shoulder – when he turned around, he was punched square in the face. This time by a fuming Ichigo.

"You idiot!" the orange-haired boy shouted "I should turn you upside down and stick your feet in that big mouth of yours!"

"What? Why?" Renji snarled. "You have no right to interfere! This is none of your business!"

"Tatsuki is a friend of mine and I won't stand for…"

"Enough, Ichigo." Orihime said quietly, laying a hand on his arm. "Let him go, it's not his fault – he couldn't possibly imagine that…"

In spite of the situation, twin shadows of jealousy flashed in Ishida and Rukia's eyes.

"Yes, he could! It's written all over Tatsuki's face that something isn't right!" he yelled, ready to punch him again.

"This won't help Tatsuki." Rukia spoke up.

Ichigo lowered his arm and let go of the red-headed Shingami.

Ishida adjusted his glasses. "What happened to Arisawa-san? She doesn't behave like this, usually."

Ichigo and Orihime exchanged a sad look, wordlessly debating if it would be right for them to tell.

Rukia folded her arms and glanced pointedly at the taller boy.

He sighed. "Fine. Yesterday, Tatsuki's cousin died. he took a deep breath. "Apparently, he killed himself."

Chad bowed his head, while Rukia gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Even Ishida looked somewhat shocked.

Orihime started toying with a lock of hair nervously, twisting and twirling it around her fingers. "Please, forgive her. Tatsuki-chan was deeply affected by this news – they were very close."

Renji's eyes were fixed on the floor, his shoulders hunched. His stomach clenched in shame. He had never felt so mortified in his whole life.

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" Rukia asked.

In another time and place, with other people involved, Renji might have laughed at the irony of the whole situation.

Orihime shook her head. "No. Please, don't say anything to her. She doesn't… she's not very…"

Ishida raised a hand solemnly, coming to her rescue. "Don't worry. We know what she's like."

"You weren't supposed to know anyway." Ichigo shrugged. "It wasn't our place to tell."

An awkward silence followed – all of them looking everywhere but at each other.

"Well…" Orihime said hesitantly. "I'll go after her now…"

The two friends came back a few minutes after the teacher's arrival.

"You must have a good reason to arrive so late…" the teacher said, looking expectantly at Tatsuki.

Orihime stepped in front of her friend. "I wasn't feeling well and Tatsuki-chan walked me to the bathroom."

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "All right, then. Take your seat."

Renji watched Tatsuki through lowered eyelids. 'She looks like a broken puppet…'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cold wind blew in the empty courtyard. Last period had ended quite some time before and now all the students where busy with their various clubs.

Renji shouldn't have been there.

He usually spent his afternoons training – but this time he couldn't bring himself to leave.

Her spiritual pressure was wavering uncontrollably. 'It's like a sign reading 'Restaurant for Hollows – come in and have a bite' !' he mentally snorted. 'This is the only reason why I'm staying…'

After a while, however, he sighed and left the roof. "It will be much easier if I stay closer."

Renji walked down the stairs apparently unhurriedly – but he kept a metaphorical eye on Tatsuki's aura.

'Now, where could I stay…' Renji thought as he looked around the gym. Suddenly, he raised his head. His ears had caught for a second a low, muffled sound among the loud shouts coming from the building – and he could feel Tatsuki's quivering spirit nearby.

Frowning, the red-head silently walked around the gym, going for the other side. He was totally unprepared to the sight that greeted him.

Arisawa Tatsuki was sitting down on the pavement, clutching a tattered piece of paper. Tears streamed down her cheek, falling on her blouse. She hadn't even changed into her karate gi.

Renji stared at her for a minute of two, then, he slowly walked up to her and quietly sat down by her side, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Go…away…" the human girl choked between her sobs, but didn't recoil from his touch.

Renji didn't speak – he only squeezed her shoulder a bit.

After a while, he cautiously wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She stiffened.

"Don't worry." he whispered. "I won't tell."

Tatsuki let out a low sob. She was vaguely aware that she shouldn't have accepted the comfort he was offering – but she felt too numb to know why or actually care.

Renji let her cry without a word.

Long minutes went by.

Tatsuki started to calm down – although she probably hadn't noticed. Renji did.

He peeked at the paper she still gripped in her hand: it was a picture of two young children, both with black eyes and black hair. There was a faint resemblance between the two of them: no one could think them siblings, but it was clear that they were related.

"You and your cousin?" he asked.

Tatsuki nodded, her knuckles turning white as she doubled her grip on that fragment of a happy time that would never come back.

"What was his name?"

The girl blinked a couple of times, then answered. "Ra-Raito."

"Oh."

Silence again, for a couple of minutes.

"He surely was a special boy…"

Tatsuki straightened her back, breaking away from him. If Renji was making fun of her cousin, God help him, Shinigami or not. "What do you mean?"

Renji looked away. "I was only saying that the two of you must have been really close if his death affects you so."

"Of course it does!" Tatsuki replied, indignantly. "But I don't expect you to understand…"

Renji sighed and rubbed his forehead. 'Will I ever be able to say something without being misunderstood?'

He promptly ignored the little voice in his head telling him that it **_was_** his fault, after all.

"Sorry."

The red-head blinked. "What?"

"I shouldn't have said that…" she murmured, staring at the ground. "You know, with Rukia's attempted execution and everything…"

"Don't worry, no offence taken. I understand that you aren't at your best right now."

"It doesn't mean that I've gone crazy and cannot be considered responsible for my words!" she glared – or, at least, tried to. "I shouldn't have said that…" she added, more quietly.

Renji sighed again and peeked at the photograph. "Was he older than you?"

Tatsuki nodded. "Yes, by three years."

"I bet he always protected you when you were children…"

Tatsuki laughed – or, at least, emitted a sound that vaguely resembled her laugh. "No, he always hit me when we were children. Raito was jealous since he was the only child in the whole family before I was born. The spoiled brat didn't like competition." she looked fondly at the picture. "But he did stick to principles like she-is-my-cousin-so-I-am-the-only-one-allowed-to-beat-her."

"So that's why you took up karate?

"No, although Raito **_is_** partially to blame. After all, he forced me to watch my first Bruce Lee movie ever. After that…" she shrugged her shoulders, a small smile playing on her lips. "…well, things went downhill. I was four, while Raito was seven." she knitted her eyebrows. "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have met you all…"

Renji coughed, embarrassed. "Uh…what makes you say that?"

"I first met Ichigo at the dojo. And later, I wouldn't have been able to protect Orihime. So, in the end, it was all thanks to him…" Tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Who knows, maybe you'd get tired of him hitting you…" Renji replied, shrugging his shoulders. "How bad did he take it when you started knocking him down?"

Tatsuki smiled again, lost in memories. "Oh, you have no idea! Raito'd throw such tantrums…

"How did it end? Did he took up karate as well?"

"Judo." she said as she made a face. "But he never managed to beat me again." she looked thoughtful. "Raito isn't really interested in martial arts, anyway. He gave it up after he finished high school. However…"

"However?"

"Raito always comes to see my competitions, no matter how unimportant." Tatsuki whispered, smiling a bit. "He only skipped a handful – and always because he couldn't do otherwise. He always says that it's good to see me knock down somebody else, for a change." Tatsuki blinked. "Sometimes I wonder if we're really cousins – I mean, his parents are kinda snob. They always criticize everything I do. They were really scandalized when I took up karate – but Raito has always supported me. He says – said that it was good for a girl to know how to defend herself."

Renji nodded. "Well, I can assure you that you did make him proud."

Tatsuki's eyes dimmed. "I can only hope so." She lowered her head and her shoulders began to shake.

Renji swallowed hard, worried. "T… Arisawa?"

"How could it happen, Renji?" she whispered, her voice like shards of glass. "Why did he do it? He had no reason to do it!" she blinked rapidly, trying to erase her tears, but they slowly fell on her cheeks nonetheless. "His parents are a pain, but they love him. We all do! Raito was… I thought he was happy! He never told me otherwise – if there had been something wrong, Raito would have told, wouldn't he?"

"I'm sure he would…" Renji murmured, laying a hand on her shoulder.

The black-haired took an unsteady breath. "Renji… could it be that I missed something? That I was too blind to see…?"

"See what?"

"I don't know!" she cried, frustrated. But there had to be something – something deep. Raito wouldn't have killed himself without a reason – without an explanation." she blinked. "Raito would have never committed suicide." Tatsuki repeated slowly, almost talking to herself.

Then, it was only silence.

"Tatsuki?" Renji called her softly after a while, but she didn't answer. She kept on staring straight ahead, deep in thought.

"Tatsuki?"

Slowly, the human girl turned to him – her eyebrows knitted and her eyes lit by a calculating light that sent shivers down Renji's spine. He also heard a voice whispering to him that he'd better run for his life.

"You are a Shinigami."

Too late.

His hand automatically flew to cover her mouth.

"Say that louder, will ya!" he said as he looked around frantically – without realizing that he was practically shouting. "Why don't we go and write it on every wall?"

Tatsuki pushed his hand away, but didn't avert her gaze.

Renji was starting to sweat – metaphorically, since gigais couldn't sweat – beneath that intense scrutiny. "So what?"

"Can Shinigamis sense if – if a person was attacked by a Hollow?"

Renji frowned. "Of course we can! Why, have you seen something suspicious?"

Tatsuki didn't reply, turning her gaze on the empty yard. "Can you sense it even if the person was… killed?"

Renji immediately realized what she meant. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, forget it! I'm not…"

"So you can!"

"Yes, we can, but I'm not doing it!"

"You don't even know what…"

"Oh, I know what you want. And my answer is no!"

"Why?"

Renji blinked, silently staring at her.

"Give me a good reason and I won't ask it again!" she insisted.

'I don't want to hurt you – in any way…'

"It's against the rules!"

"I don't believe you!" Tatsuki shouted. "And since when do you care?"

"Since now!" he stood up and made to walk away, but, in a second, Tatsuki jumped to her feet and grabbed him by the arm.

The red-head still had his back turned on her – but he couldn't do anything to block out her voice.

"Please, Renji… I have nobody else to ask to." Such a sad, defeated voice. "Please…"

A voice that definitely didn't suit her.

The Shinigami turned back. He found her gaze and held it. "What do you want me to do?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A boy and a girl walked in the moonlit street – their feet made no sound and their bodies cast no shadow. The boy carried a sword; the girl was surrounded by a flame-like aura.

Suddenly, the girl stopped in front of a low building, staring wordlessly.

"Is it here?" the boy asked, stealing a worried glance at his companion.

The girl nodded.

He gently took her by the hand. "Come." he whispered, tugging her onward.

Ignoring both door and windows, they stopped in front of a wall – and stepped through it.

Three coffins were ready in the dark room.

"Which one?" the boy asked again softly.

The girl glanced into the first, then moved toward the second and stopped.

"It's him." she murmured. "It's Raito."

The boy gently took her by the arm and pushed her back. "Wait here. I'll have a look."

As he bent on the lifeless body of a boy he had never known, he could feel her eyes on his back. Silently, the Shinigami cursed the dead, then he lowered his head and started his investigation.

Long minutes passed by.

The girl in the back moved nervously. "Well?"

Renji didn't answer, still staring at the boy in the coffin.

'Which answer will hurt her the most?' he thought. 'What should I say?'

"Let's go." he said as he turned back.

They stepped through the wall again and walked away without turning back.

When the funeral home was about two blocks behind, Tatsuki stopped, staring at the read-headed Shinigami with unreadable eyes.

Renji turned and walked up to her, laying a hand on her arm. Although they both were only spirits, she felt his warmth through her shirt.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuki…" he forced himself to look at her. "It was a suicide."

Few words that changed everything.

Something broke. Something toughened. Something else, on the other hand, simply melted and dissolved.

Renji didn't say anything else as he walked her home – although he was really glad she hadn't questioned his conclusion. Or asked for details.

It didn't matter anyway. He knew he had said the right thing.

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	15. XV: All or Nothing

I'm back, finally! Sorry for the huge delay, but between the schooltrip, tests - yes, we already have tests. Isn't this cruel? - and site problems, I couldn't update sooner. Please forgive me.

Here's the new chapter - the next one comes on sunday as usual.

Thank you for your patience.

XV: ALL OR NOTHING

_One month, three weeks and four days ago_… 

Down on the tatami, the two girls bowed and stepped back, returning to their teams.

On the stands, six friends gaped silently. They couldn't believe their eyes.

Orihime cleared her throat. "Well, that was… unusual."

Ichigo snorted. "And that's still an understatement."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't so bad…" Rukia said as she faked cheerfulness – and elbowed Ichigo between his ribs.

Sado didn't say anything, but Ishida spoke up as he pushed his glasses up. "It was certainly an unpredictable match."

"Oh, yes, unpredictable for sure…"

"I held my breath for the whole time."

"It's been a long time since I saw something like that."

"Same with me."

Renji snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "It was pitiful."

Five pair of eyes – including Sado's – turned to glare at him.

"What? I only said the truth." the red-head rolled his eyes. "Don't look at me like that, I know you're thinking exactly the same thing."

"That's not true!" Rukia protested, blushing – and indirectly confirming his words. "Tatsuki-chan was probably…"

"You don't need to find an excuse for her, Rukia," he said dryly as he turned toward the tatami, his brows knitted. "It doesn't change the fact that she was terrible."

He ignored the glares aimed at him, concentrating on the general direction of their school's team.

He didn't even glance at the following matches, being too lost in his own thoughts.

Then, suddenly, he got up and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Rukia shouted after him.

"Bathroom!" he replied without even turning around.

But that wasn't his real destination.

"Arisawa-senpai." said a green-belt girl as she timidly approached the disheartened student. "Your friend is waiting for you in the corridor."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow, then stood up and walked toward the gym door.

"Don't forget you're up in fifteen minutes." another girl shouted.

Tatsuki nodded as she stepped into the hall – and almost immediately stopped dead in her tracks. She had expected to find Orihime – definitely not Abarai Renji.

"What are you doing here?"

"The question is," Abarai said, pushing himself away from the wall. "What are **_you_** doing?"

Tatsuki frowned. "What?"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Arisawa."

She glared, crossing her arms over her chest.

Renji felt a thousand words raising to his lips. He wanted to tell her that he knew that it wasn't her real strength, that she could do better than that. He wanted to hug her close and tell her that she couldn't stay forever stuck in that dark void of pain. That losing wouldn't bring Raito back.

But he couldn't.

None of that would work with her.

There was only a way to drive away her darkness – and he was the only one who could ignite that sparkle again.

'Because I'm the only one she despises to such extent…' Renji thought, smiling bitterly to himself.

So, the red-headed Shinigami took a deep breath – and started.

"I can't believe I lost to a weakling like you. Thankfully, no Captain is around, or I'd be demoted on the spot. You're such a pathetic excuse for a fighter."

Tatsuki's eyes widened – she hadn't expected that. Then, her surprised look turned into a glare. "Be careful, Abarai…"

He cut her off. "Come on, don't make me laugh! It's a wonder that you survived against that Ajucas – a mere low-class Hollow would have been enough to kill you." he sighed. "But, after all, you never fought them on your own. There was always somebody there to save you."

"Last time I checked, I saved your sorry hide from that Ajucas!"

"I'm glad I won't have to put my life into your hands again." he sneered. "You're out, Arisawa."

"What?"

"You are obviously unsuited for battle – too emotional." he shrugged. "You'd only get yourself killed."

Tatsuki's fists clenched by her sides and her gaze hardened.

"It's for the best, obviously. If you can't even win a lousy tournament like this, then you ha…" the rest of the sentence was cut short by a fist connecting with his jaw.

"Go to Hell, Abarai!" she shouted. "Who do you think you are? I won't allow you to leave me behind! I am more than capable of fighting my battles on my own!"

A tiny green belt peeked from behind the door. "Er… am I interrupting something?" she coughed. "Arisawa-senpai, you're up in a couple of minutes."

Tatsuki nodded and turned, walking back in without sparing a single glance at him.

Renji left as well, but, instead on joining the others, he stopped at the first row of the stands.

Tatsuki bowed, then stepped on the tatami. As she walked toward the area where she was supposed to fight, she turned around, her eyes scanning the stands until they found a bright stain of red – his hair.

Tatsuki looked straight at him. 'Watch me, Renji. Just watch me.'

She turned to bow at the arbiter, missing the smirk that curved his lips.

Her fire was back. The flame had been rekindled.

After all, what was an aching jaw compared to that?

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	16. XVI: Colors

We're back to our Sunday meeting. Another short update – really sorry. The idea just wouldn't leave me alone until I added it.

I can't believe this story has got 100 reviews – and not even a flame! I'm so happy I could burst!

Thank you, people. Thank you very much for all your kind words, it meant a lot to me! I never got so many reviews over one story – I'm really grateful to all people who went out to leave their comments and especially to the regular reviewers. Thank you. Thank you very much.

But now, enough blabbering….

XVI: COLORS

Author's note: I've arbitrary christened Chizuru as "Sayuri" – only a little pun. If somebody actually knows her name, please let me know and I'll correct it.

_One month and two weeks ago_

Arisawa Tatsuki was fairly plain – and she was well aware of that.

She didn't particularly care about physical appearance, either.

However, it was a fact that around her revolved a world of unique people. Everybody she knew had a distinctive trait that made him or her stand out – everybody carried a distinctive color. Sado-kun with his flashy shirts, Ishida with his obsession on blue-and-white, Rukia with her blue-violet eyes, Orihime's light brown hair that had caused so much distress in the past – not to mention Ichigo's unique and unbelievably natural hair color.

Then, of course, there were the red-heads – Chizuru and Abarai.

Red had been a long-time constant in Tatsuki's life.

It was pretty rare as hair color – especially in Japan – yet she had met a lot of red-headed people. With each and every single one of them she had built a very strong relationship: either she adored them or she loathed them.

Her first sensei at the dojo, Mizuno Ninsei, had been a red-head. She greatly admired the older man and still went to visit him every once in a while.

She also remembered fondly Urameshi Natsumi – they had been classmates at the local elementary school, until Natsumi's family had moved to the States. Now they were pen-pals. She had recently received a photo of her old classmates: her red hair still looked like a sunset.

Furukawa Tomiko wasn't such a good memory: she had been one of Orihime's tormentors. The two of them never missed an opportunity to insult each other.

Neither had Isozaki Arata – the boy who used to live near her grandmother's.

These were only the main examples: she certainly didn't have time to recall all of them – the stern woman from the bakery, that nice girl she had met at the finals, the boy she had danced with at Kunieda's birthday party two years before and so on.

Yes, red had always fitted into Tatsuki's life – in one way or the other.

She had long since concluded that red-heads weren't normal.

Slowly, she turned to glance at the two red-haired people that now occupied her life.

Chizuru Sayuri and Abarai Renji.

She had no doubts about Chizuru – she was definitely going on the "People With Red Hair I Despise" list. The girl was absolutely exasperating.

Renji, on the other hand…Renji was pretty difficult to pinpoint.

Tatsuki sneaked a glance at him.

Yes, definitely more difficult. But that was just the way he was – Renji would never fit in any stereotype of sorts.

Another fleeting look stolen out of the corner of her eyes.

She really couldn't tell where she should place him.

Or so Tatsuki said to herself, ignoring the small voice in her head that insistently stated otherwise.

Author's note:  
Red-heads of the whole world please don't feel insulted. My mother has got red hair and I certainly haven't anything against her – in fact, I wish I had hair like hers…  
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	17. XVII: Spy Story

Sorry for the dealy - personal problems kept me away from the ocmputer yesterday.

Here's long awaited chapter…I hope you'll like it.

XVII: SPY STORY

_One month and two days ago…_

"This is the most useless thing ever!"

"Oh, shut up, Abarai! And keep that Reiatsu down, do you want her to notice us?"

Renji cringed. "Why us? Why?"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Ichigo is their target, so that rules him out. She has seen Sado-kun and Orihime, so they're out as well."

"Why not Rukia and Ishida, then?" he remarked.

"Ishida is already following the other one and Rukia is busy helping Ichigo." she glared at him. "Is it so horrible to have to work with me?"

Beneath the hood that covered his bright hair, Renji coughed. "I didn't say that." he replied defensively. "I'm just saying that, as a couple, we aren't believable."

Another sideway glance. "Is that because you're taller?"

Tatsuki had never minded her stature – it usually came handy in fights and matches alike, since less height equaled more stability. That is, until Renji started rubbing it in.

"Maybe – Midget."

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. 'I won't punch him, I won't punch him, I won't jump him…' she blinked. 'Damn! I thought about it again!' she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Don't go there, Tatsuki. He's a Shinigami!'

Meanwhile, Renji peeked around the corner. "How long is it taking her? She's been in that damn shop for hours!"

Promptly laying her thoughts aside, Tatsuki stepped closer. "Is she still there?"

"Yep. I can feel her." he frowned. "Maybe she suspects something…"

Tatsuki stepped a little bit closer. "Then, we should refute her doubts."

Renji felt a shiver run down his spine as his cheeks heated up. "What do…"

Tatsuki closed the distance between them, rising on the tip of her toes, and gently pressed her lips against his own.

Renji immediately bowed his head and wrapped his arms around her, as she laid her hands on his chest.

Tatsuki broke the kiss, but not the embrace. "Now we look more convincing as a couple…" she whispered softly, her cheeks turning red. 'I should have shut him up like this long ago…'

Renji blinked. "Oh. Yeah, right." he cleared his throat. "Maybe we should… continue. Not to arise any suspicion, you know."

Tatsuki nodded – a little too eagerly, she later chided herself – and leaned up again. They met halfway, lips pressing against lips.

Renji closed his eyes, forcing himself to concentrate on their target's reiatsu – and not to think about who he was kissing.

'Damn it! This is pure torture! Kuchiki-taichou's Ban Kai was almost enjoyable compared to this!' the Shinigami though as he pressed his lips against Tatsuki's the tiniest bit harder. He was dying to deepen the kiss and hold her closer – but he couldn't.

At the same time, Tatsuki was trying just as hard to resist temptation.

Just when her self-control started to crumble, Renji pulled away, glancing in the street. "She… she's out." he whispered, a bit breathlessly. "Thank Heaven for that!"

'Just in time…' She nodded. "Good." the black-haired girl started turning her head in their target's general direction. "Which way…"

Renji's hand moved to her chin, stilling her movement, then his lips covered hers again. Though still fairly chaste, this time the kiss was a little less restrained than the previous ones.

Tatsuki was surprised – but not as much as Renji when she kissed him back. He was sure that his hammering heart could be heard in a five-mile radius.

When lack of oxygen – and fear to lose their target – drove them apart, the human girl blinked. "What…?"

Renji turned his back on her, his eyes following the female Vizard. Arise no suspects, right?

Tatsuki blinked. "Yeah… right."

"Good. Come." he started walking away – and thus didn't see her gingerly touch her reddened lips, nor he noticed her fierce blush or her doubtful expression.

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	18. XVIII: Save the Last Dance for Me

Sorry for the delay - I went through a horrible bit of writer block for this chapter. All the others are done, so it won't happen away.

The good news is that, at least, it's long.

XVIII: SAVE THE LAST DANCE FOR ME

_Three weeks ago…_

Renji had found many weird things during his already prolonged stay on Earth. However, none was weirder than teenage girls' behavior.

They always acted incomprehensibly – but there had been a conspicuous increase in the last weeks. The female students huddled together, whispering, giggling and blushing all the time.

Since the Student Council had decided to organize a mid-term dance – not the usual party, a real, formal ball! And all thanks to the combined efforts of the Dance Club and the Readers of Romantic Novels Club– life had become unbearable.

"Abarai-kun, can I have a word with you?" said a small, black-haired girl from another class, blushing furiously as she stopped him in the hall.

"Uhm, sure." Renji blinked, shifting the weight of his schoolbag on his shoulders.

"I was wondering…would you come to the dance with me?" she rushed, her flush deepening.

The red-head coughed, embarrassed. The fact that Rukia was watching – and smirking – a few feet away from them didn't make the situation any lighter.

"Sorry," he said, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. "But I'm already going with someone else."

"Oh." the girl attempted a small smile. "I see. Well, never mind."

Renji kept on walking – in a second, Rukia was by his side, grinning widely. "Awww, what's wrong, lover-boy? You don't like the attention?" she winked at him. "You'd better make the most of it – it's not like you'll be getting any once we're back home!"

"Shut up!" he growled.

The short girl rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Renji. What was wrong with this one? She was pretty cute…"

Renji frowned. Rukia did have a point – but it would be a cold day in Hell before he admitted it. He tried to think about this last asker – average height, not too flat, cute face, brown eyes, long black hair… Definitely pretty. Still, there was a something that didn't ring quite right – although he couldn't say what it was.

"So? Why did you turn her down?"

Renji didn't really know how to answer, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. "The color of her eyes was wrong."

As soon as those words left his mouth, he realized that, after all, it was true. The fact that a sudden vision of eyes as black as the night-sky had suddenly flashed into his mind had, of course, nothing to do with that.

The other Shinigami looked at her long-time friend sideways. "You're weird…" she sighed dramatically. "So, who are you going with?"

Renji didn't hesitate. "Arisawa."

Rukia stumbled on her own feet, quickly regained her balance and looked at him, blinking a couple of times. The red-head ignored her display and kept on walking. Rukia studied him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Ah, I see." she elbowed him lightly. "And tell me, lover-boy – does she know?"

"Of course she does!" Rukia threw him a piercing glare. "Ok, she doesn't know – yet."

The short Shinigami blinked. "You **_are_** planning to ask her?"

"Why shouldn't I?" he replied, sharply.

"Come on, Renji! You're always at each other's throat!" he looked away and she frowned. "Unless something happened – which doesn't seem possible, but…" her frown turned into a glare. "Is there something I should know, fukutaichou?"

He smacked her on the head. "Not so loud, idiot! And it didn't happen anything between us…" 'Only a kiss. Or two.'

He shrugged, trying to look impassive. "It's not like somebody asked her already. It' going to be a piece of cake."

* * *

"No!" Tatsuki's locker slammed shut, almost underlining her word.

Renji blinked. "Excuse me?"

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Are you deaf, Abarai? I told you I won't come to the dance with you."

The Shinigami scowled. "Why not? Did you join the Wallflower Club?" he crossed his arms and smirked. "Or maybe you can't dance, mmm?"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "As a matter of fact, I can. Probably better than you." she suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "But I'm not going to the dance."

His eyes widened. "You're not going? And who will protect poor Inoue from the onslaught of suitors, perverts and Chizuru?"

"Orihime is going with Ishida." she closed her schoolbag. "He's more than capable of taking care of her."

"Come on, as if you'd trust a guy to do that!" he said. "And I don't believe you're not going! **_All_** the girls are going!"

Bad move. Tatsuki turned and glared at him, eyes flashing with anger and – could it be jealousy? "I'm not all the girls." she said sternly, tossing her bag on her shoulder and walking toward the door. "Pick one of your fan club. I have no intention of making a fool out of myself!"

"Come on, Arisawa…"

But she was gone.

Renji cursed and kicked one of the lockers, leaving a dent in the metal.

'I'll find a way to convince you, Tatsuki…' he inwardly cringed. 'Even if it means asking Rukia's advice.'

* * *

Tatsuki didn't think back on Renji's proposal. Not at all. The thought didn't even cross her mind. **_If _**she had been spacing out – which she wasn't – it wouldn't have been to think about that.

And no matter what Chizuru said – she was not thinking about it when, two days after the aforementioned accident, a first-year came in their class at lunchtime and thrust an entire bouquet of flowers right into her hands.

As she would explain later, she hadn't said anything because of the shock.

The boy looked quite torn between staying and making a mad dash for the door, but then seemed to remember what would happen to him if he didn't complete his task. He had the feeling that it would happen anyway – only from another person and probably not exactly what his employer had promised, but still along the lines of "slow, painful death."

Still, at least he had more probabilities to make it out of that class alive if he just went over with it.

However, as he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, he took a couple of steps back. Just in case.

"To the attention of Miss Arisawa, from her devoted admirer."

Tatsuki's face turned quite red – the boy took another small step back and took a deep breath, since it would probably be his last.

"_Had I the heavens' inbr..embroidered cloths_," He started in a firm voice.

One down and only seven to go and he wasn't dead yet. Unfortunately for the poor messenger, the troubles started from the following line.

"_Encrought_...no, that doesn't sound right, sorry…e-ehm, _Inwr…__Enwrit.._"

Shibahime Arisu, the top-of-the-class student in English, decided to intervene – not so much to save the younger pupil from embarrassment as much as to stop him before the next mispronunciation caused her a heart attack. "_Enwrought_" she hissed, after much studying of the scribbles on the paper.

"Right, thanks. _Enw_…er, whatever she said_ with golden and silver light_" a slightly long pause. "_The blur…no, blue and the de…dim and the dark cloths_" He frowned.

"_Of knight…night and thigh and the half tight – _I mean _light and the half light,_"

"_I would bread the cloths under your teeth_

_But I, being pour, have only my creams;_ ? No, it can't be right...does that guy even know how to write!" grumbling under his breath, he brought the paper closer to his face and read the two verse again. This time, they turned out as:

"_I would spread the cloths under your feet_

_But I, being poor, have only my dreams;_ Now that's more like it!"

Silence followed his words – only a faint squeaking was heard, as if someone was clenching his – or _**her**_ – fists so hard that the bones actually, well, squeaked. It was not comforting. Not at all.

Luckily enough, the last two verses didn't hold many problems – at least nothing he hadn't seen before.

"_I have **S**pread my **D**reams under your feet;_

_Tree__…_er, _Tread softly because you tread on my dreams._"

The boy looked up and glanced around. Everyone was silent and staring straight at him. Shibahime-san looked a little white in the face, but that was not the point.

During the time he had spent trying to make sense of those awful chicken scrawls, Arisawa Tatsuki had gone from quite red to definitely purple.

And yes, her fists were clenched. Very tightly, in fact.

Before the boy could even consider making a dash for the door, Tatsuki beat him to that – and stormed out in the corridor.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Rukia called, but the short-haired girl didn't hear her.

She was about to call after her again, but then closed her mouth, mentally apologizing to Renji.

When Renji found himself confronted with a very, very, very furious Tatsuki, his first thought was not how to retreat. It was how to kill himself fast enough.

Unfortunately, even that thought wasn't fast enough.

"What the fuck did you think you were doing!"

Renji's innocent face wouldn't even have convinced a blind pigeon. "Who? me?"

"DON'T FUCKING PLAY AROUND WITH ME, YOU ASSHOLE! YOU CAN TAKE YOUR SICK JOKES AND STUFF THEM UP YOUR…"

Renji sighed – and decided that it was time to play full force. "What joke?"

"What joke! WHAT JOKE? You even **_dare_** to ask! I know there's you behind this whole scheme! If you're trying to make a fool out of me, I…"

"I'm not."

"Yeah, right! What the fuck are you trying to achieve then with this….this mess!"

Renji took a deep breath. "You didn't like the flowers? Or maybe the poem wasn't enough…"

"It was copied from the English textbook! And rather badly too! As for the flowers, they'll soon adorn your grave!"

It was time to drop the bomb – before a very furious young woman actually got a hold on him. "I want you to come to the dance with me."

Tatsuki froze, hands in pre-choking position. "What?"

"I'm answering your question, Arisawa: I want you to come to the dance with me."

She glared, clenching her fist. "Drop it, Abarai. This joke has been going for much too long already!"

"I'm not joking." he replied in a firm voice and looking straight at her. "I'll pick you up at half past eight."

He strolled past her, heading for the door.

"I didn't say yes, Abarai!"

"You didn't say no, either." He tossed over his shoulder, before calmly climbing down the stairs.

For a brief moment, she considered throwing the bouquet at his head – but reconsidered soon enough.  
It wasn't heavy enough.

She ignored the little voice in her head telling her that, after all she didn't mind going with Renji. The other voice telling her there was something suspicious in this whole invitation was much, much louder.

* * *

Renji deeply deplored the habit of not hanging mirrors on front doors – possibly full-length ones. He tried to check over his suit once again. Smoothing imaginary creases and swatting away invisible dust, he once again hoped he did look, at least, decent and wouldn't stick out like the proverbial white fly.

It was quite hard to do so if a boy was nearly 190 cm tall and equipped with a mane of long red hair. And if he was covered in tattoos, face included.

Or if the above mentioned boy kept on fidgeting and squirming in his suit.

Renji tugged at his collar again. He had never been one to fuss over his appearance, but tonight he was nervous.

'Damn Rukia! Somehow this is all her fault!' he thought, conveniently forgetting he had been the one who had asked her for help.

But this was the living world and it was still much of a mystery to him.

Also the living girls' world was still much of a mystery to him, but it wasn't exactly a good time to remember that.

Anyway, girls were supposed to like this stuff – so he'd put up with it.

He wasn't very sure why, though, since it was Tatsuki…

"Well, hello Abarai."

Renji stared. Then gaped. Then stared some more.

…now **_that_** was a good reason!

He hadn't expected much – but this was entirely beyond any expectations he might ever had.

Tatsuki's dress was quite simple – it reached about an inch above her knees and left her arms bare with only two straps passing over her shoulders. The square-cut neckline was lower than usual, but still far from the line that divided "sexy" from "sluttish."

Simple, but elegant and beautiful – just like her.

"Well? Cat got your tongue?" Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"Uh – hello," he automatically handed her the flowers. "You look good."

Renji mentally cringed – beautiful would have done better. Great would have done better. A lot of other adjectives would have done better.

Tatsuki smiled a bit, accepting the small bouquet. "Thank you. They are very beautiful."

Renji smiled back. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl."

She cast him a quick glance, but remained silent, pinning the bouquet on her dress. "Shall we go?"

"Of course." Renji took her hand, leading her down the road. "I parked nearby."

Another quick glance, this time definitely puzzled. "You **_parked_**? Were did you get a car **_and_** a driving license?"

"Oh, I have my ways." he smirked back.

"I see. So where did you steal it?" she smirked back.

"From the headmaster." he replied, unlocking the door and holding it open for her.

"Thank you." As she got in, Renji mentally thanked Urahara and **_his_** ways – not to mention his "facilities for undercover Shinigami."

The drive to school wasn't long, but they barely exchanged a word.

Tatsuki stared out of the window. From time to time, Renji sneaked glances at her. She didn't look angry or sad. Probably the best word to describe her was – quiet.

Though he could detect the faintest trace of tension within her, he knew it wasn't the proverbial calm before the storm.

He felt her take a deep breath as the door to the gym swung open.

They had barely set foot in the gym-turned-ballroom that something pink and frilly came bouncing toward them. Closer inspection revealed it was none other than Orihime. "Tatsuki-chan! I'm so glad you came! Isn't everything beautiful? It's like a fairy-tale!"

"Yeah – very beautiful." Tatsuki met Ishida's slightly annoyed gaze. "I think there's a certain gentleman waiting for you."

Orihime blushes. "Fine, fine…But I'll still talk to you later!" she bounced away.

Ishida politely waved at her, then took the princess' hand and whispered something in her ear. Even from that distance, she could see the blush rising to her best friend's cheeks.  
Tatsuki turned away, feeling as if she had intruded in a private moment, and wondered for the nth time what the hell she was doing there. It was not a place for her.

She too in her surroundings. Even beneath the loud music she could hear the rustling of long skirts from stylish dresses. The room practically gleamed with jewelry and polished shoes and smiles.

Tatsuki clenched her teeth. She could feel eyes on her. She had never cared about what the others thought or said about her – but now, ripped from her familiar surrounding, from her usual place and usual clothes, she found herself suddenly vulnerable to those cutting stares and those whispered words. Even though the heaters were on, she there was a chill, deep down inside of her, that just would not leave.

Then, she felt a strong arm wrap around her and pull her against a firm, warm body. "Let's get something to eat." Renji said, guiding her toward the buffet.

As she walked by his side, a strange thought crossed her mind. Maybe she couldn't kick on those hellish heels – but she could still stub toes.

When asked later, the only answer she'd be able to give would be: 'it was weird.'

Weird, but – normal.

Or maybe weird because it was normal?

But… how normal could it be, standing with your supposed enemy next to the buffet, talking about everything and nothing at all but still enjoying yourself?

How normal could it be, trading comments on fights with a boy instead of flattering compliments and phone numbers?

She didn't care. He didn't care.

This was their normality.

Thus they talked just a bit more relaxingly, and teased each other and flirted with each other.

Several song passed them by, just a background sound slightly more pleasant than the buzzing of the crowd.

Then, a new song began and she raised her head.

_I hear you call my name_

_And it feels like home_**1**

"Arisawa? Did you fall asleep"

"Shut up, Abarai. This is one of my favorites." Unconsciously, she tapped her fingers against the plastic glass.

Renji smirked a bit and drained his glass. Then he took hers out of her hands and placed it on the nearby table. "Let's dance."

Tatsuki laughed and let herself be half-lead, half-dragged to the dance floor.

_When you call my name it's like a little prayer_

_I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there_

_In the midnight hour I can feel your power_

_Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there_**1**

Tatsuki laughed and danced with the red-haired Shinigami.

Renji watched her, as he danced along, and smiled.

And the song played on and on, until the last note rang clear under the star-like lights.

As a new song began, some students moved out of the dance floor and other moved in.

The short-haired girl turned to leave, but Renji caught her by her wrist. "May I have another dance?"

His eyes burned right into hers – right into her soul. She found herself nodding and not resisting when he pulled her closer. And together, they danced.

_Like a river flows to the sea_

_So it goes, some things _

_Are meant to be _

_Take my hand _

_Take my whole life too_

_But I can't help_

_Falling in love with you_**1**

They danced some other songs, while sat through others. Still that one would not get out of her head, even on the ride home.

Renji parked – quite badly – in the first close space he found, not bothering to look for a better one. After all, no policeman would be up and about looking for badly parked cars at five past midnight.

"You don't have to do it, you know" she muttered as he walked her to the door.

"I know," he replied, arms crossed behind his head and eyes locked on the stars above. "But I want to."

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over her. She huddled in her jacket.

"Are you cold?"

"No, it's ok. My house is near anyway."

Renji patiently waited as she grabbed the keys from her small bag and unlocked the door.

Tatsuki turned toward him, a small smile on his lips. "Well, I'm here. Safe and sound."

"Good. Well, I'll be going now." he fidgeted a bit.

Tatsuki looked down, then up again. "Thank you for the nice evening."

"Uh…I'm glad you had fun." he fumbled. "I….I had fun too." He leaned a bit closer.

Tatsuki unconsciously moved closer as well. A lamp was switched on, its light exploding like a bomb. Both jumped back, without knowing if they had been more scared by the sudden light or by the sudden realization **_something_** was about to happen.

"Is that you Tatsuki?" a woman called from upstairs.

"No, it's Godzilla," she muttered, rolling her eyes before answering loudly. "Yes, yes it's me."

Renji laughed nervously. "Goodnight, Tatsuki. I'll see you around."

"See you." she called back.

She took of her shoes and came in, lingering in the doorway to watch him go, until even his fiery red hair was lost into the darkness of the night.

Her mind was reeling – their laughter, the dances, the song and now that…that _**thing**_. Whatever it was. Whatever it might have been.

Tatsuki shook her head, as if trying to clear her thoughts and to chase the stupid song out of her mind. Trying to look at it objectively.

What had it been after all?

Just a school dance.

Just a boy and a girl.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

But in the last two years, normality had fled their – no, her life, fading like a dream at dawn. Leaving behind no trace, just a bunch of discolored memories growing more confused every day.

Now she had a new normal memory. And she would hold fast to it for years to come anyway.

* * *

Author's notes:

1: I'm not using song lyrics – I'm quoting them.

The songs quoted are:

Mad House – Like a prayer (cover from Madonna)

ATeens – Can't help falling in love with you (cover from Elvis Presley)

The poem used is "Aedh wishes for the cloth of Heaven" by William Butler Yeats.

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	19. XIX: Blue Moon

A big, big thank you to everyone who reviewed.

XIX: BLUE MOON

_Two weeks and three days ago_

It all started with a fight.

Things always tended to start with a fight between them.

They had gotten a detention together – not for fighting together, but for fighting together against a couple of boys from the Judo Club. And beating them to a pulp in the process.

Now, as they cleaned the school lab up after a particularly messy experiment, they had set off to rectify the situation by starting yet another quarrel.

This time, the cause of their dispute was the last football match played by their school's team.

"It was Sagara's fault, I tell you!"

"No way! Come on, did you see Imahori and Minato? They looked like statues!"

Renji scoffed. "You're a girl! You don't know anything about football!"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Said the boy who learned of its existence two weeks ago!"

"Not true! It's at least two months!"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes again. "I beg your pardon – obviously, this casts a new light on the whole thing…"

"So what!" he shouted. "It's not as if you're such an expert!"

The windowpanes softly tinkled against their frames.

"I still know more than you do!"

The lamps started swaying, as if stirred by a sudden breeze.

Abruptly, various pieces of the lab's equipment chinked and rattled in the shelves. A pile of books collapsed and a test-tube freshly washed rolled down the table and fell on the floor, shattering in a thousand tiny pieces.

"What the…" Renji said, instinctively searching for any sign of abnormal spiritual pressure – before the floor slipped away from beneath his feet.

"It's an earthquake!" Tatsuki shouted, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him toward the door. She pushed him under the doorway – as the whole building shook around them, somehow, she found herself in his arms.

Renji's head was spinning – everything was happening much too fast. This terrible, uncontrolled force unsettled him – and slightly scared him, too, for he had never been caught in the middle of something like that.

Their schoolbags fell down from the desks, scattering their contents on the still-shaking floor. Glass vessels smashed on the floor.

Instinctively, Renji pulled Tatsuki tightly against him, shielding her head with his arm.

Little by little, the tremor subsided, until everything became perfectly still again – save for the mad rising and falling of the scales.

The sound of shattering glass echoed in the room one time or two, then absolute silence followed.

Suddenly, their breathing seemed too loud.

Renji and Tatsuki still stood in the doorway, wrapped in a crushing embrace.

The red-headed Shinigami eased his grip a little, but didn't let go of the short-haired girl completely. Renji lowered his head and looked straight at her. "Hey. Are you okay?"

Tatsuki lifted her head from against his chest and looked up, her eyes meeting his own. "Yes."

A brief nod. "Good."

"What about you?" she whispered back. – belatedly realizing that they had gone from a shouting match to a murmured conversation. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." he breathed.

Tatsuki nodded, still not breaking their eye-contact. "Good."

Their arms were still loosely wrapped around each other, but neither moved away.

Finally, Renji realized the position they were in – and suddenly found it a bit harder to breathe. Then, without a reason, without a thought, he closed the space between them and kissed her.

Soon that simple pressure of mouth against mouth turned into something more, as he ran his tongue along her lower lip, tasting more of her – and still desiring more of her.

Instead of recoiling and hitting him, she parted her lips, granting him her permission. Renji immediately deepened the kiss, greedily taking everything in.

However, Tatsuki wouldn't let him gain the upper hand so easily and met his tongue with her own, starting a heated and sensuous battle – in which, probably, both would win.

Renji's hands were practically itching to bring her closer again – but he didn't dare, lest this moment, this bliss was irreparably shattered.

Tatsuki's head was spinning. She had never been kissed like that, with such passion, such energy, such warmth and – dared she hope? Desire.

Lack of oxygen started making itself acknowledged and eventually forced them to part, breathing deeply and still lost in each other's eyes.

The same thought raced through their mind.

'What now?'

The same combination of dread and longing rushed in their veins

But, in the end, the cold, harsh fear prevailed.

'She's human…'

'He's a Shinigami…'

_I can't, we can't, we mustn't!_

So, Tatsuki stepped back – albeit a bit too slowly, almost unwillingly – and pretended to dust her uniform off not to look at him in the eyes. "Looks like we still have a bit of work to do." she glanced around. "Luckily, all the vessels that fell down were empty." she remarked offhandedly, hoping that her voice wasn't as shrill as it sounded to her own ears.

"Yeah," Renji lowered his gaze. "Really lucky." he muttered – pretending not to notice the way her shoulders tensed for a second. But he did.

He closed his eyes and smothered his desire to kiss her again, then pushed himself away from the doorframe.

No words were exchanged as they tidied the lab up again – sweeping up the shards of glass, readjusting the books and gathering their things back into their schoolbags. All the while pretending their lips hadn't darkened by two or three shades and that their breathing wasn't still a bit labored.

Eventually, their task was finished. Renji and Tatsuki took their schoolbags, climbed down the stairs and walked through the schoolyard and out into the street.

Never once did they glance at each other.

* * *

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	20. XX: School Trip

XX: SCHOOL TRIP

_One week and four days ago_

Years before, when he was still a rookie under that bastard – formally known as Aizen – Renji had been assigned to patrol a part of Osaka. He didn't pay much attention to the town, at that time.

Then, his class had gone there in a three days trip. At first it had been a shock to see how many things had changed – people in Soul Society tended to forget how quickly Time moved on Earth.

In fact, those days had passed in the blink of an eye. At least, the daytime had – evenings and nights had been more difficult, since he was rooming with Ichigo and Ishida.

Finally, the last night had come around and he had the room all to himself: Ichigo was going to stay with Rukia and Ishida was going out with Inoue.

Stepping out of his one-hour-long shower, he started contemplating his options for the evening – until a loud knocking sound abruptly jerked him out of his thoughts.

Muttering curses under his breath, he wrapped himself in one of the hotel's bathrobes and stomped toward the door.

"What the hell, have you lost your keys?" he yelled, as he threw the door open. Then, his face turned purple and the sting of insults that he was about to add was caught in his throat, forming an almost solid lump and effectively choking him.

Instead of Ichigo or Ishida, standing on the threshold of their room there was none other than Arisawa Tatsuki.

The black-haired girl merely looked at him up and down, raising an eyebrow, but her face didn't betray any other emotion.

Renji's face, on the other hand, was nicely paired with his hair. He started praying that a lightning would strike him and turn him into a nice pile of fuming, unfeeling ashes – forgetting that, technically, he was already dead.

Tatsuki crossed her arms to her chest. "So? Are you letting me in or what?"

Renji stepped back, then closed the door – and dived back into the bathroom, deeply thankful that he had brought there his clean clothes before showering.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he shouted as he dressed quickly.

"Rukia and Ichigo are staying in." Tatsuki rolled her eyes. "Since I felt I was intruding, he said I could stay here."

"It didn't occur to you that he isn't the sole occupant of this room?" Renji scowled.

She shrugged. "Ishida's out with Orihime. Besides, he wouldn't mind."

"But I'm here!"

She stopped looking around and glanced at him. "What? Does my presence bother you?"

Renji blinked, caught off guard. "No…I mean…well…"

"No problem, then." she shrugged.

Renji opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, then muttered something incomprehensible – but certainly not exactly flattering.

"What? Did you have a date?"

"No. I was trying to decide what to do, but then I was – interrupted."

She didn't reply. "So? What are we doing?"

His eyes widened a bit. "Why should I know?"

She glanced at him again. "As you kindly pointed out, it's **_your_** room."

Renji promptly blushed and looked away, trying to find something that avert his attention from the not-exactly-chaste thoughts that had just took control of his mind.

Luckily, he spotted Ichigo's deck of cards. "Are you up for a game of cards?"

Tatsuki shrugged and sat down on a bed. "Sure."

"Hey, that's my bed!"

"I don't see you using it!"

He shut his eyes tightly – trying to erase the suggestive images.

"Abarai? Are you okay?"

Renji opened his eyes again. "Ehm, sure." he sat down on the opposite bed and started dealing the cards.

* * *

Two hours later, Tatsuki stood up, lips pursed in a thin line and eyes flashing with anger. Her cheeks were also strangely flushed.

Renji smirked, although he was secretly _**very **_glad that looks couldn't kill. "Come on, honey, you don't want to back out now, do you?"

The venom in her glare was tenfolded. "A bet is a bet…"

"Well?"

She really felt like hitting him. "I'm not taking it off in front of you, you pervert!" she marched to the bathroom and slammed the door shut. "And don't you dare trying to peek!"

"Che. As if!"

One minute later, Renji rose from the bed and kneeled in front of the bathroom door, trying to see something through the knothole.

Much to his dismay, he discovered that he couldn't see a damn thing – plus, it was only thanks to his Shinigami strength and speed if he managed to go back on the bed right before she opened the door.

Tatsuki glared at him and threw him a white bundle of cloth. Here's your trophy, Abarai. she remarked, disgustedly.

The red-head simply caught it and unwrapped it. "It" was none other than a white cotton bra with a bit of lace at the edges.

"Thank you." he smirked as he stood up and placed his "gambling prize" in his suitcase.

"Go to Hell."

"You can always try to win it back."

"Of course. And I'll make sure to win your boxers, too…"

"If you want them _**now,**_ no problem…"

Her eyes widened infinitesimally and her right fist clenched, but she merely muttered, "Go to Hell, you swine."

She sat heavily on a bed, huffing, then grabbed the TV's remote and started flipping through the various channels.

"What the Hell are you doing?" he said, sitting down by her side.

"Just seeing if there's something on TV." She moved to another channel again, then abruptly changed back, sitting up a bit straighter than before. "Well, aren't we lucky!"

Renji studied the screen. "Why?"

"They're broadcasting one of the best movies ever – and we just caught the beginning."

"Ah. And this movie would be…?"

"The Blues Brothers. she replied. "Now shut up and pay attention, I won't explain anything if you miss it."

The red-headed Shinigami rolled his eyes and sat back, hoping that the movie wouldn't be too boring.

A few minutes later he was watching with wide eyes as two police cars chased each other though a mall.

"I see you like it." Tatsuki remarked, eyes twinkling in amusement.

"It's not bad." he replied, his gaze still on the TV screen.

The black-haired girl smirked, then turned back on the TV.

The movie went on.

_White man, white woman, the Jews use the nigger…_

"What's that?" Renji frowned.

Tatsuki hushed him. "Just wait and see…"

_Illinois Nazis, _Elwood Blues explained on screen

_I hate Illinois Nazis, _Jake Blues replyied.

Then, the Blues Mobile – former police car – was moved on the pavement and he pushed on the accelerator.

They laughed as the Illinois Nazis were forced to throw themselves in the river not to get run over.

"That's on of my favorite scenes!" Tatsuki said.

"Yeah, it was good." Renji said, looking at her.

Their gradual shifting and searching for a comfortable position had brought them close. Much closer than they expected.

If he lowered his head a little…

If she turned around just a bit…

He was staring at her. She could feel his gaze on her skin.

Fire was her element, in every possible way – yet, Tatsuki found herself trapped by the flame shimmering in his eyes.

It felt as if an invisible force was pushing them closer, like puppets pulled by a thread.

Right before their lips could finally meet, however, a loud, imperious knock came from the door.

Immediately, they jumped one feet apart – Tatsuki focused back on TV screen and Renji got up to open the door.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" the red-head snapped when he saw Ishida and Inoue standing on the threshold.

Ishida carefully cleaned his glasses with a handkerchief. "It's raining, Abarai." he scoffed, marveling at the Shinigami's thick-headedness. "Didn't you notice?"

Orihime bounced on the bed where her best friend was sitting. "Tatsuki-chan! What are you watching?" she peered at the screen and lit up. "Great! The Blues Brothers! We're so lucky!"

"Yes," the other girl muttered under her breath. "Really lucky."

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	21. XXI: Photograph

Once again, thank you to my wonderfulo reviewers.

XXI: PHOTOGRAPH

_One week and three days ago_

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Ichigo rubbed his forehead. "Now I'll go there and _**throttle**_ them! Maybe we'll get a bit of peace and quiet!"

"I'll help you." Rukia nodded.

Fate – who surely had a twisted sense of humor – had somehow maneuvered so that Tatsuki ended up sitting next to Renji for the ride home. They had begun to quarrel even before the autobus started.

Frankly, they had started to get on everybody's nerves.

"God, aren't they tired yet?" the orange haired boy groaned, closing his eyes. So, he totally missed the mischievous glint that flashed in Rukia's eyes.

"Well, humans find surprising strength for the things they enjoy…" she stated matter-of-factly. However, there was a wicked undertone that didn't go unnoticed by the human boy.

"Eh?"

Rukia shrugged, smirking. "Why, for example, I know a certain boy who never grows tired of…" the rest of the sentence came out as an incomprehensible mumble – mainly because Ichigo had covered her mouth with his hand. Then, he all but tried to choke her.

In the background, Renji and Tatsuki were _**still**_ arguing.

Hours later, a sudden silence filtered from the back-seats – springing forth many theories.

"Maybe she knocked him out."

"Maybe he threw her out of the window."

"That's impossible, we would have heard the glass crash… I think they killed each other."

As their closest friend found the most absurd hypothesis – and made up excuses not to go and check on them – Mizuiro and Asano started wondering what had happened as well.

They had the right to be worried – after all, the two spitfires occupied the seats right behind their own.

Quietly – and after many respective reassurances – the two boys turned around and took a shy peek.

Then they did a double take and looked again.

The Miniature Sergeant and the Red Ape, the most terrifying people of the whole school – scratch that, of the whole town, the bitter rivals, the Cat and the Dog had fallen asleep. Cuddling.

Arisawa's head rested against Abarai's shoulder and she practically curled against his side, while Abarai's right hand rested directly atop of her left one. His cheek was pressed against the top of her head and he was imperceptibly leaning toward her.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?" Asano whispered.

Mizuiro only nodded.

"Quick, pass me my camera."

* * *

_One week and two days ago_

Tatsuki didn't get it.

Why the Hell all her schoolmates were pointing at her and whispering to themselves, giggling occasionally? And why many girls were trying to glare at her when they thought she wasn't looking?

As if that wasn't enough, also her friends were acting weirdly – they looked very nervous and quite cautious around her.

She got her answer around break time, when Abarai Renji literally stormed back from the bathroom. There was a dark cloud looming over him, occasionally broken by a lightning or two, and his expression guaranteed slow and painful death.

He also looked a bit flushed, but it was probably better not to point that out.

"Have you gone to the bathroom recently, Arisawa?"

She raised her eyebrows. "No, why?"

The red-headed (and now red-faced) Shinigami shoved a sheet of paper right in her face. "Look."

Tatsuki grabbed it and lowered it a bit, casting it a brief glance. Then she stiffened and looked again.

The colors where a bit dull and the upper edge was a bit torn from where Renji had ripped it from the wall, but the picture was still pretty clear: it was photograph of herself and the red-head. Both sound asleep and both cuddling.

Slowly, she crumpled the paper and threw it in the bin before her spiritual powers could get out of control and the offending picture mysteriously turned to ashes.

"Who did this?"

"I suspect it was Ichigo's moronic friends – Asano and Mizuiro."

Both turned toward the spot the boys usually occupied, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Tatsuki clenched her fists. "You hold them still and I punch them."

"No, _**you**_ hold them still and **_I _**punch them!"

* * *

"I still don't think it was a good idea…" Mizuiro said.

"Oh, shut up! **_Maybe_** you got the looks, but I definitely got the brains!" Asano replied. "It was hilarious! As you seen, we can avoid them until they calm down."

"If you say so…" the shorter boy said.

Suddenly, a third set of footsteps echoed in the corridor. Mizuiro looked up – and all the color drained from his face.

"Hey, Asano?"

"What?"

"If you **_truly_** got the brains, I suggest you to put them to a good use **_now_**." he pointed to the tall boy who was walking toward them from the opposite end of the hallway.

It was none other than Abarai Renji – who was smirking like a cat who just caught a bird.

Asano swallowed hard. He was about to propose an hasty retreat, but the sound of footsteps coming from behind them froze him on the spot.

With a feeling of impending doom, he risked a glance over his shoulder – and immediately wished he hadn't.

Arisawa was there, advancing on them with a psychotic smile plastered to her face.

Asano closed his eyes and whimpered, "We're dead."

Renji laughed. "You don't know how much."

* * *

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	22. XXII: Fair Trade

I decided to update early since I'm leaving for the sea-side tomorrow. I'll be back next Saturday so chapter 22 will be up on Sunday as usual.

For Blaze de Dragon:

Renji/Yoruichi sounds very interesting – I'm honored you keep my story in such high regard and I'm more honored you actually want my help. I'll be happy to help you – just e-mail me or leave a signed review, so I'll know how to contact you. I'll surely answer you when I come back home.

Author's note: reference to facts described in chapter 20.

This chapter is dedicated to my history teacher – see, prof.? I do know World War I! One week ago

XXII: FAIR TRADE

_One week ago _

Renji didn't know that gigais could sweat – apparently, Urahara's could.

He cursed the stupid perfectionist and immediately realized that, maybe, breaking his hard-earned concentration over such trivial things hadn't been such a smart move, after all.

'Goddamn it! I already graduated once, why do I have to go through this whole school thing all over again!'

Unfortunately, his frustration didn't change the reality: Abarai Renji was failing his History class, therefore he was forced to undertake an oral test.

Now, there he was, sitting next to teacher's desk with two other students and desperately trying to remember which other lands had been contended between two countries after then the thrice-be-damned Alsace and Lorene.

As if that wasn't bad enough, five or six students had gathered by the other side of the desk to listen to their oral test and take notes on the questions – and Tatsuki was among them.

Renji shifted nervously on his chair. 'Damn! I know where they are, I know who wanted them, I know how they where split after the war – but I can't remember those fucking names! What the Hell, they were too damn strange! How can he expect me to remember that!'

"We are waiting, Abarai." the teacher said.

"Well…Italy questioned the Austrian ownership over some neighboring areas, which were…uhm, well…"

On the other side of the desk, Tatsuki cleared her throat.

Renji's eyes immediately shot up. 'Is she laughing at me?'

Their eyes met – then, to his utter amazement, Tatsuki started carefully mouthing the four words he had been searching in vain.

"They were Trentino, Friuli, Istria and Dalmatia." he says, firing all the words in one single breath.

'Now I hope he won't request a perfect pronunciation!'

"Very good, Abarai. Now, Sasaki, could you tell me…"

Renji let out a sigh of relief and slightly slumped in his seat. His gaze landed on Tatsuki's smiling face. She winked at him and he tentatively smiled back.

He took a deep breath and looked at the clock. 'Only 10 minutes to go… Then we have Japanese and then the Trigonometry test.'

_Two hours later_… 

Renji put down his pen and stretched a bit.

He glanced at the clock – still fifteen minutes left and nothing to do. He had already checked his answers twice, but everything seemed fine.

Feeling boredom slowly creep up to him, he started looking around to see how the others where doing. Inoue was spacing out again, Rukia was finishing her rough draft and soon would start copying all the exercises, Ichigo and Ishida had both finished and Sado, well – it was pretty hard to tell.

The red-head's gaze then landed on Tatsuki – and he almost gasped.

The black-haired girl was biting down on her lips and looked overall worried and frustrated. The lower half of her sheet was a mess – numbers written one above the other and then crossed out, erasures, calculation only half-done.

From what he could see, she was having troubles with the last equation.

Renji didn't stop to think about it. He simply tore a piece of paper, wrote the equation down and hid it inside a clean tissue.

Then, while the teacher was looking the other way, he swiftly threw it on her desk.

Tatsuki blinked, glanced at him, then unfolded the tissue and found the note. She cast him another quick look, then started copying down the right answer.

She finished a minute before the bell rang.

The students handed back their tests, then started walking out for lunch break. As Renji gathered his things, a shadow fell across his desk.

"Abarai?"

"Yes?" he replied as he stood up – noticing without much interest that they were alone in the class.

"I think you have something that belongs to me." Tatsuki crossed her arms to her chest. "Since I was so kind to save your sorry ass with History, I demand it back as a repayment."

Renji smirked. "Straight to the point as usual, aren't you, honey? So, you want your bra back?"

She punched him on the arm. "Why don't you say it louder, they didn't hear in New York City!" she growled, even if Renji, for once, wasn't shouting.

The red-head smirked. "Sorry, honey, but I think I'll keep it."

Tatsuki flushed. "WHAT! WHY! I helped you out and you owe me!"

"I already paid my debt. I passed the last equation, didn't I?"

"I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO!"

"It doesn't matter. Plus, I want to take home a souvenir from Earth."he winked at her.

For a second or two, Tatsuki was way too stunned to reply. "Couldn't you buy a damn T-shirt!"

Renji leaned across the desk until they were eye-to-eye – quite literally, too. "But that it's special." he whispered. "It's yours…"

Tatsuki blushed crimson and gaped. Renji only chuckled as he walked away.

* * *

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	23. XXIII: Catch Me If You Can

XXIII: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

_Four days ago_

Tatsuki loved to fight.

Always had and always would – even though long years of practicing karate had put a hold on her old attitude, she still liked it a lot.

Tatsuki loved the rush of adrenaline, the energy, the oxygen filling her lungs, her heart thumping loudly.

She wasn't stupid, nor irresponsible. She had joined a greater battle, she knew there was more than her pride at stake.

Tatsuki had discovered the darker side of fighting – the constant, gripping fear. Fear of not being strong enough, not being fast enough, not being smart enough – not being able to protect those you love.

Tatsuki had known helplessness – and she didn't like it.

She knew she was far behind all the others, that her training had just began.

Still, Tatsuki wouldn't allow them to push her back, to fight her battles in her stead.

She just didn't hold with that kind of things.

She had quarreled with Renji a lot about this – and not all those "exchange of opinions" ended peacefully. Tatsuki knew that the red-headed Shinigami was very similar to her in that, but he refused to see it and recognize it. It really drove her up the wall.

Tatsuki was a tomboy, but she wasn't stupid, nor blind. She knew that it was his twisted way to say he cared.

Still, she wouldn't stand for it. She just couldn't do it.

Every time they marched into battle, she was more than scared – she was terrified. But she wouldn't let that stop her.

And, deep down, a part of her was glad. For, when she fought, Tatsuki could finally stop feeling useless.  
When she fought, Tatsuki felt she had some sort of control on her and her friends' lives. She wasn't a tool in the hands of a blind Fate anymore.

She discovered, but not without shock, that the battlefield was indeed her natural place. Out there she could – and definitely would – make a difference.

She'd never admit it, but she also liked fighting side by side with Renji.

She had always been independent and self-reliant – and damn proud of it too – but around him she felt safe. She knew she could always count on him.

And then, when they fought alongside, she was too busy insulting him back or proving her worth to think about her fears and be scared.

That night, of course, was no exception.

Tatsuki studied the situation. "Do you think we can make it on our own?"

Renji smirked. "It depends, honey"

She frowned. "Depends on what?"

"If you can keep up with me or not!" he yelled over his shoulder as he rushed out.

Half a second later, she pressed her back against his own. "There's no way you could ever leave me behind, Abarai."

Renji didn't need to see her to know she was smirking. He grinned back, even though she couldn't see him.

But she knew – just like he had known.

* * *

Author's rant – er, note: I can't believe this fiction is about to end. Next chapter will be the last… it just fully hit me and it's making me a bit sad.

Oh, well – I guess I'll have to work hard on the sequel(s). It's proving more difficult than this story – chapter 18 excluded, of course – but I'll try me best. I can't say when I'll publish it, nor I can promise regular updates as for this one. But I'll work hard and write them! A big thank you goes, of course, to all the people who reviewed and keep me motivated.

As usual…

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	24. XXIV: Pieces of a Dream

XXIV: PIECES OF A DREAM

_Now_

It's raining again – pouring, actually. Buckets of water fall from the sky instead of normal raindrops, soaking everyone and everything and drumming on the roof of the small shop.

Inside, all is quiet, save for the soft rustling of pages being turned and the squeaking of a pencil being dragged on blank paper.

A tall, muscular boy who looks about twenty years old stands behind the counter, an open register on his right, several sheets of papers in front of him and a pile of coins and banknotes on his left. He copies a few prices and absentmindedly rubs his stiff neck, his attention unwavering.

There's something reassuring in the honesty of numbers. They're probably the only thing everybody can understand, a bridge between Soul Society and Earth. Renji often wishes he could remember the name of the old woman who taught him his numbers, so he wouldn't be tricked anymore – but he can't. Probably he never knew.

Still, what started out as a necessity soon turned into a pleasure – probably the only one he could ever get from Area 78.

He remembers keeping watch over his sleeping friends at night, when he tried calculation after calculation to stay awake – making up random numbers and summing, multiplying, deducting and dividing them.

Somebody taps at the front door, but Renji doesn't look up. "We're closed. " he says, lost in his own world of numbers.

The knocking continues. Renji huffs as he realizes he has copied twice the same sum. "I told you we're closed, are you deaf!" He finally raises his head, glaring daggers at the annoying bugger – and finds himself staring into a familiar pair of deep black eyes. Said eyes happen to be glaring at him with scorching anger – but that's a familiar sensation as well.

Renji stares and blinks as his brain slowly emerges from a fog of figures and registers the sight of Arisawa Tatsuki drenched to the bone.

As her scowls deepens, he finally shakes himself out of his stupor and rushes to open the door.

"What the Hell are you doing out here in this weather, you idiot!" he yells as he locks the door behind her. "Are you crazy or what?"

"I was caught in the storm." Tatsuki replies, crossing her arms to her chest and trying to look as dignified as possible – which isn't much when you're dripping all over the floor and looking every inch like a cat fallen into a barrel of water.

Renji mutters something about irresponsible teenage girls. "You're going to leave a puddle on the floor! Come with me!"

Shivering, she follows him into the storage room. Behind all the weird-shaped boxes and overly-colored crates, they have created what could be considered a small room: there's a futon on the floor near the wall, a chest of drawers against the other one, a solitary chair, an electric heater and a gas ring with some cutlery in the opposite corner. Grayish daylight comes in through a skylight high on the wall.

The red-head gestures toward the only furniture in his room. "My clothes are there, look if there's something that fits you."

Tatsuki looks uncertain. "But….won't you need them?"

Renji shrugs. "Tomorrow I'll go back to Soul Society. Those are human clothes."

"I see…"

Tatsuki isn't a girl who wears her heart upon her sleeves – yet, right in this second, an unidentified emotion flickers in her eyes, flashing on her face.

Renji isn't sure he wants to know what it was, so he clears his throat and beats a hasty retreat.

He goes back to his numbers, trying to finish his work, but, somehow, his mind always slips back on the black-haired girl in the other room.

It's incredible how she can distract him even with a wall and a closed door between them.

He glances at the wet footprints she left on the floor, half-wondering if Urahara expects him to mop them up, and then decides he doesn't really care.

Mechanically copying more sums, the red-headed Shinigami recalls the previous afternoon, when he said goodbye to the human friends. During his time on Earth, he started appreciating them – even care about them on a different level than duty.

Their parting had been really sad – more than he had anticipated. However, there had been the undisputed advantage of saying goodbye to Tatsuki in public. It had been rather easy to detach himself from her, to move on and discard his hopeless crush.

But now Tatsuki is here. With all her fire and her stubbornness and her pride and her temper and all the other things that make her simply herself – and simply larger than life.

She's here with him.

And Renji doesn't know what is going to happen.

The door opens and close. Soft footsteps reverberate on the floor. Renji doesn't look up – also because the final sum is wrong, but he can't find the mistake.

"Can I use the phone?" she asks politely.

Renji still doesn't look up. "Yes, but only for a short call."

Even though his eyes are still fixed on the paper, he **_knows _**she's rolling her eyes.

Tatsuki hauls herself up on the counter and grabs the phone, dialing a number. " 'Hime? Listen, I was caught in the storm… no, I've already found cover, I'm at Urahara's shop. However, I'm going to tell my parents that I'm staying at your place….Yes, I know it's not nice, but you know how they are…Yeah, I had enough of walking in the rain for at least a month…Can hardly wait to get a driving license, it wouldn't be so terrible now, would it? We're both so unlucky with our birthdays."

Renji clears his throat rather loudly and she rolls her eyes again. "Gotta go, Abapin here is starting to complain – as if he was the one to pay for the bill!" Tatsuki sighs dramatically. "Talk to you later. Thanks a lot, 'Hime, I owe you."

She hangs up, then picks up the phone again. "Mom? It's me. Listen, I'm at Orihime's. I'll stay here until tomorrow, since it's raining so hard…." she huffs "It's Friday evening, I have the whole weekend to study…Yes, don't worry, I'll come back home early….Say hi to dad for me. Goodnight."

Tatsuki hangs up and places the phone back on the counter. Renji is still scanning the list of numbers, searching for the elusive mistake. "I never took you for one who lies to her parents, honey." he remarks casually.

"And I never took you for one who listen to other people's phone calls, Abapin." she shots back.

"Aw, shut up! You're distracting me with you stupid phone calls!" he growls.

"What? The great Abarai Renji, undisputed genius at mathematics, can't solve a few sums?"

He opens his mouth to reply, but forgets to keep his eyes on said sums – and all the harsh words die on his lips. Tatsuki is sitting there, wearing one of his white shirts, hair still half-wet and messily sticking to her head. Mischievous black eyes, always dancing with fire, are staring straight at him and freezing him on the spot.

It's Urahara's clock that saves him from embarrassment – ringing that weird march that signals it's time to "draw the curtain", as the bizarre store-owner likes to put it. More prosaically, it means it's time to lower the rolling-shutter.

Renji walks out toward the shop's front door. "You said you're staying, right?" he says as he starts closing everything.

The girl mumbles a reply – when Renji turns around, he finds her scribbling on his papers.

"What the Hell do you think you are doing!" he shouts, crossing the room in a few strides.

Tatsuki ignores him. "You switched these two numbers. It was 18.50, not 15.80."

"No way," he grunts." I can't have done such a silly mistake!" he grabs the papers – and notices that in fact he has. Grumbling under his breath, he corrects the mistake and the final sum is absolutely perfect. He copies it down on the register and adds short note telling Urahara he should take better care of his accounts and it's a miracle the shop hasn't closed down yet.

Tatsuki chuckles. "Our teacher wouldn't have been impressed…"

"Oh, shut up! It's all your fault anyway."

"My fault? I certainly didn't write those chicken scrawls!"

"You certainly didn't mind those chicken scrawls when I graciously allowed you to copy my math test! See if I ever do that again."

Again, something entirely different flashes on her face. "Not like you could anyway."

Renji, too caught up in his own anger – in the turmoil of his soul – misunderstands. "Why not? You know I'm better than you at maths!"

Tatsuki sighs. "Must we always end up fighting?" she says, suddenly looking very tired. Or maybe she's not tired, she's merely – sad.

Renji opens his mouth, then closes it again. Silences stretches like a cobweb between them. Both the Shinigami and the human girl stare at each other, studying each other like opponents in a spar no one was willing to lose.

"Why are you here, Tatsuki?" he says, even if he's not very sure he wants to know the answer.

"Many reasons." she replies.

Renji starts losing his temper. "That's not an answer!" he comes closer, eyes flashing, although the high counter reduces a lot the height difference between them. "Why? I have the right to know!"

It looks like it's going to end in the usual way, as if nothing changed from their very first meeting – or their very first fight.

Renji's talking, no, more like shouting, but Tatsuki doesn't listen, doesn't hear. Behind closed eyelids, memories of the last months flow like a movie and it seems to her that her life – their lives until now have been going in circles, never straying from a path that leads nowhere but is deemed safe – maybe exactly because of that.

She sees all the signs they pretended not to notice, all the words they didn't say, all the opportunities they missed to break the odious circle and start another path – dangerous, unknown and without a definite end. It's against common sense – especially now, that it's almost too late.

But she's fed up with going in circles.

Tatsuki opens her eyes and kisses Renji fully on his lips. She clutches the edge of the counter, forcing herself not to touch him, not yet. What's going to happen now is entirely up to him.

And Renji kisses her back, fighting for dominance over the kiss as he wraps his arms around her waist and all but crushes her against his chest.

Tatsuki hugs him back, pulling him closer still, untying his hair and running her hands through it.

Time stops for them. There's no tomorrow, no parents and no superior officers – only this and here and now, because this night is all they have and deep down they both know.

This time, they won't waste it. They can't afford to waste it.

So, there's no complaints, no recriminations, no afterthoughts. They're both made of fire – and together, they burn.

Renji pulls her down from the counter and they stumble blindly through the shop and into the storeroom, to the corner that acts as "Renji's bedroom" and to his bed.

They make love just like they fight: fiercely, wildly, ardently, with all their souls. They don't take it slowly, nor gently – but it doesn't matter, it doesn't make it any less satisfying or less memorable.

Outside, it's still raining, a hundred thousand drops tapping and ticking against the walls.

Inside, a unique harmony created by two ragged breathing patterns, two wild heartbeats playing along with the soft whisper of their names.

Renji, Tatsuki.

Tatsuki, Renji.

Nothing else matters, only this song without a tune they make.

Then, the beat gradually slows down and fades into the background. The rain dancing on the rooftop is the only sound filling the shop as they lie entangled into each other's arms, both unwilling to let go. None dares to speak, lest they might break whatever spell has kept all rational thoughts under lock and key until now and reality manages to reach them through the barrier of raindrops.

Renji stares at the ceiling, his fingers drawing lazy circles on Tatsuki's shoulder. She has an arm haphazardly draped over his stomach and every slow breath she takes sweeps over his chest.

Tatsuki's gaze is lost somewhere between the chest of drawers and the electric stove.

Contrary to popular belief, Renji can appreciate a bit of peace and calm from time to time, but this kind of silence is rapidly getting to his nerves – or maybe the unwanted thoughts it brings are.

There's something unnatural in being quiet and silent when Tatsuki is around.

"Hey," he speaks up. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Nothing. Everything. Don't know."

Renji kisses her and she kisses him back just as ardently. When they part, Tatsuki looks at him in the eyes for a moment, then turns away and lies back down. "Where're two idiots, Renji."

He tries not to look startled – for he was thinking just the same.

"One idiot and a half, with your height or lack thereo-OUCH!"

"Serves you right." she says, but she's smiling. "My size is perfect."

Renji smirks evilly, then reaches out and cups one of her breasts. "I quite agree on that, honey…"

At least 50 different shades of color wash over Tatsuki's face. "YOU PIG!"

This time, she hits him harder.

"OW! What, as if you didn't l…"

Whatever that "L" stands for, no one will ever now, for Tatsuki whacks him again. Flushing, she opens her mouth to reply, but a loud growling sound coming from her stomach stops her – and causes her cheeks to redden even more.

Renji laughs. "Looks like somebody made a lot of exercise, lately…"

His stomach growls in response and this time, Tatsuki's clear laugh fills the room. "So, also Shinigamis can get hungry from – exercising." she pokes him. "Interesting."

The red-headed boy rolls out of bed and puts his underwear back on. "Well, let's see if there's something left…"

Instinctively, he reaches for a rubber band to tie his hair again. Tatsuki, guessing his purpose, gently lays a hand on his arm – not really gripping, merely adding the faint pressure of a butterfly's wing. "Don't. I like the way you look with your hair down."

Renji carelessly drops the hair tie and shrugs. "Okay."

She smiles at him and follows his lead, putting on her knickers and the borrowed, oversized shirt.

As he checks his reserves of food, she starts laying the table without even being asked to.

"I fear there's not much – tea and biscuits is okay for you?" Renji asks a bit worriedly.

"It's perfect." she replies.

They eat together, trading smart remarks back and forth – faking a normality that doesn't belong to them, pretending a routine that never was and never will be.

Still, behind the curtain of rain, cut off from the world – both worlds – it's easy to play this game of make-believe. Much too easy. It shouldn't come so natural.

The whole situation should be awkward, but it's not.

They should feel guilty, but they don't.

They should regret this, but they can't – it's the only thing they'll ever have, so they have no intention whatsoever to regret it.

Still, it shouldn't come so natural.

Renji should not feel like kissing her again – he shouldn't give in to his desire so easily. He should not want her again.

But he does.

And Tatsuki kisses him back, this time slowly and tenderly – as if they had all the time in the world.

Renji hugs her close, raining soft kisses on her skin like the clouds outside spray the rest of the world.

That's all they do, at least for a long time – as if they were a normal couple.

Those kisses, however sweet and chaste, little by little awaken a soft, irresistible fire beneath their skin.

"Shall we go back to bed?" Renji says, holding out his hand to her.

Tatsuki simply grabs it and pulls herself up, following him.

He brings her closer again, kissing her neck, and she laughs, then breaks the embrace. Tatsuki sits down on the futon, her legs folded under her body, and starts unbuttoning the white shirt she's wearing.

Renji sits by her side and catches her hands in his own, effectively stilling them. "Let me…" he whispers, softly kissing her neck. Tatsuki tilts her head, exposing more of her skin, and drops her hands to her sides. " 'kay…"

Renji kisses her again, slowly pushing the first button through its buttonhole.

Tatsuki holds back a sigh, feeling his long, warm fingers barely touch her skin – but she can't possibly suppress a small, surprised gasp when Renji's lips follow his hands' trail, worshipping the tanned skin he just uncovered.

Another button undone, another tender kiss bestowed.

Tatsuki buries her hands into his hair and leans back onto the futon. His lips never leave her skin, only moving lower and lower. He lingers a bit on her bellybutton, dipping his tongue into the small crevice and making her giggle.

The last button is unfastened as well and he advances on her abdomen, kissing along the waistband of her panties.

Tatsuki pulls him up and covers his wandering lips with her own in a heated kiss.

However, this time they won't rush it. This time, they want to remember everything. Every touch, every kiss, every single feeling.

Renji is looking straight at her, making her heart beat faster, and Tatsuki struggles to keep her eyes open. Although all those sweet sensations almost overwhelm her, she doesn't want to miss anything.

But it's difficult, even more difficult when their bodies finally join again – it's even more intense than before, like the rushing downpour of a waterfall.

As her hands roam all over his body, Tatsuki wonders how is it possible that, for two times in a row, both found themselves perfectly following the very same rhythm, without a single word being spoken between them. It's like magic, really.

She grabs Renji's hand and intertwines her finger with her own, all the while placing butterfly kisses on his chest.

A light shudder runs through his body and he hisses out a deep breath. As he keeps on thrusting steadily into her, Renji marvels at this feelings that shoots right through him, reaching the very essence of his being.

He thought that making love when forced in a gigai would be awkward, that everything would be muffled, dulled – instead, it's proving to be absolutely overwhelming.

Renji thinks he can feel the fire of her – that very fire that first captivated him – somehow being passed on unto him through her touch alone. He can feel it tingling under his skin – especially wherever in comes in contact with her own.

It's only through sheer willpower that they manage to keep it slow – drawing out every single drop of pleasure, delaying to the very last moment.

Until their fire can't be controlled any longer and flares up – it's just too strong, too hot, too _**everything**_ and it crashes unto them like a tempest.

Tatsuki arches her back and screams, holding on to him for dear life. Renji's grip on her thigh slips a little as he dissolves with her.

Then, there's only the rain – and deep breaths and slow kisses again.

They lie entangled in each other's arms again, only this time it's Renji who has an arm draped over Tatsuki.

She is the first to fall asleep. Renji stays awake for a while, slowly caressing her hair and trying to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

He's thinking that if the higher ups ever find out, they'll skin him alive and slowly roast him over a low fire. He's thinking that this night was one of the best times of his life.

He's thinking he's very glad he'll have to leave come morning, for he's damn afraid to face what could come next. He's thinking they truly are idiots and how much he wishes he could stay – if only for a little bit longer.

Little by little, he succumbs to sleep as well and all these thoughts fade away without a trace.

Tomorrow, they'll wake up to a bright, sunny day and pretend everything's just fine. They'll get dressed quietly and she'll politely turn down his offer to have breakfast together, saying she's not hungry.

He'll walk her to the door and they'll exchange an awkward farewell.

And right there on the shop's threshold, there will be a passionate, reckless, unplanned kiss – their last kiss goodbye.

Then, she'll walk out of his life and he'll go back to his world, both holding the memory of this night close to their heart.

With the break of day, the end will come – or maybe, in the long run, it will only prove to be a new beginning.

But they still can't know that.

Until then, they'll just sleep through the night, wrapped in each other's arms.

**The End (?)**

Author's note: At last, the end. I still can't promise a date for the sequel(s), but I promise you I'll write them.

I hope the ending was not too disappointing… Let me know what you think.

A huge thank you to all my faithful readers and my kind reviewers – your support meant a lot for me.


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